Has anyone had robotic surgery for mitral valve repair?

[PatWalker]

Hi,
My name is Pat, I am a 59 year old female, always active untill the past eight months when valve problems were first diagnosed, from the start I was treated with medication, now I will have to undergo valve replacement or repair surgery, surgeon says he won't know until he goes in. I have severe mitral regurgitation and moderate to severe tricuspid, plus atral fib. I am scheduled to have the robotic surgery . I was wondering if anyone else has had this type of surgery and maybe could tell me what their experience was like.

 

[ryen0]

Hi Pat. I had mitral valve repair done by robotic surgery almost 2 years ago. As far as telling you what my experience was like, that could be quite a long story But to sum up, i had a very short hospital stay and recovery time and the surgery went off without a hitch pretty much. If you have any questions or want the "long version" feel free to message me.

 

[cp172]

Hi Pat,

I had robotic mitral valve surgery two & half years ago. I was in the hospital a week and back at work part time three weeks after surgery. You will not have to deal with a split sternum but they cut a lot of nerves and muscle getting to the heart. Pain was not much of an issue for me (when I took my medicine) and every day after surgery was a little better.
After surgery I had real bad stinging pain in my back when I sneezed, saw bright colored flashs and had lots of vivid dreams. With time these all went away. I also became anemic and have to take a prescription vitamin.

I would be happy to answer any questions you might have. Ask as many as you like. A lot of fine folks on this forum helped me through my waiting period presurgery. It really helped me.

 

[PatWalker]

Thanks so much for the responses. I worry about how long I will be on the heart lung machine, I was under the impression in the beginning ofmy dance that the surgery would be done on a beating heart, if on a heart lung then is the heart not beating? Also I wonder about lung collapse....or if the surgeon deliberately deflates the right lung for surgical reasons. I wonder what's been the experience of others as far as the lungs go. The thought of waking up with a breathing tube down my throat sort of freaks me out a bit. I am in hopes it won't be there when I recover. I guess I just wonder what others have experienced so I can prepare myself for anything afterwards. I think I can indure pain pretty well, if there is any for me afterwards. Thanks for the heads up regarding the pain in the back , I'll remember that. I'm not sure about the breathing tube, I just worried I may panic. The waiting is very hard, my surgery is on the 24th of May. I am so in hopes my surgeon will be able to repair instead of replace., he says he won;'t know for sure until the surgery. Not sure if I should go mechanical or tissure. He asked what if need be I would choose to have, gosh I don't know.

 

[Luana]

Hi Pat,
It's my understanding that mitral valve repair with robotic-assisted surgery uses a few small keyhole size incisions, about the size of a dime, for the instruments to pass through. I wouldn't think the incisions would be very painful when healing, and you'll be given pain meds and probably have an Rx for more when you go home. My AVR was done with a small incision between the ribs and it wasn't painful for me. Since I thought initially it was mitral vavle reapir that I needed, I did do a fair amount of research on it. Most of what I read said typically there's no need to put the patient on the heart/lung machine, as repair can be done on a beating heart, but, of course, your surgeon will have to determine that. You might want to make a list of questions to take with you when you go to have your pre-op lab work done. You'll be able to meet with a nurse and ask about whatever concerns you.

I wouldn't worry about the breathing tube if it is still in place when you wake up. Even when you wake up, you'll still be sedated so it's not quite the same as being the conscious person that you are now. I could taste the plastic, but it didn't bother me; I wasn't aware of anything down my throat. I wouldn't want to have one for days on end, but as long as things are well with you, breathing tube will most likely be removed about an hour or two after you've come to. There was nothing painful about it to me; it wasn't anything more than a slight annoyance.

Wishing you all the best!

 

[RonP]

I'm 47 and had robotic mitral valve repair surgery done last September in Spokane, WA, by Dr. Siwek. My choice for robotic over conventional was primarily because of his experience and “fix rate” which is over 99%. The benefits of being less invasive, having a shorter hospital stay (my surgery was Wednesday morning and I checked out at noon on Saturday), and shorter recovery time are all true but I didn’t want a replacement valve so I went with a surgeon who was a master at repair.

As it turned out, my valve was worse than he anticipated and my surgery lasted 6½ hours. I was on bypass for 4 hours. They actually took me off bypass, checked the repair, didn’t like it, and went back in to replace the new ring with a smaller one and add a couple gortex cords. I’m sure that most other doctors would have given up and just replaced it, but he stuck with it and, now, 6 months later I have just trace leakage, normal ejection fraction (that took a while), and my heart has returned to normal size. I feel great.

When I think back about what Dr. Siwek had to do and how long he had to work, I’m glad that he was sitting in a chair looking at a computer screen making tiny movements with his hands rather than having to lean over me for 6+ hours. I’m sure that made the difference in being able to keep my original valve and the quality of his repair. Now, heart surgery, no matter how it’s done, is still MAJOR! The first 24 hours will probably be the worst day of your life – breathing tube, getting out of bed the first time, coughing, hiccups!, catheter, seeing all the wires and tubes and monitors, family feuds, etc – but the next day will be better and the one after that even better. Exercise as much as you can (don't become a couch potato) and take your meds and you’ll soon be back to normal, actually better than normal.

Feel free to ask specifics.

Ron

 

[Terri44]

Hey Pat,

I had mistral robotic surgery on April 22nd. My diagnosis was the same as yours except for the tricuspid. Dr Murphy at St Joesph's in Atlanta was able to repair my valve,perform the maze procedure for the A-fib and close a hole we were both unaware of. I was told there was a possibility the valve would have to be replaced also. I don't remember having the breathing tube so it must have been removed before I regain full consciousness One of the three scabs from the tube is already gone. The only discomfort I had was back pain from the tube in my side and that was removed in less than 24 hours. I had nausea and made the mistake of not requesting my pain meds 3 days post-op because I was feeling so good. It felt like a elephant was sitting on my chest and a truck had run over me. I have 4 small incisions on my right side that do not hurt and one in my left groin. I'm still getting feeling back in my groin but it doesn't hurt. I've had a salty after taste since about 3 days post-op that is almost gone. I can sleep but have nightmares and hallucinations my doctor said both problems are from the pain meds and the anesthesia still exiting my body. Hope that helps. Please feel free to ask if you have anymore questions I'm home from work until 6/3/10

Terri

 

[Sharlea]

Hi Pat,
I am a 56 y/o female who had robotic mitral valve repair on 10-20-09. I too had severe regurgation, the mitral valve prolapse was identified as Barlow's Syndrome. I had a wonderful surgeon who was very experienced with robotic mitral valve repair. My surgery was 6 hrs. and I was on the heart lung machine for about 1 and 1/2 hrs. Waking up with the breathing tube is not so bad because you are kind-of out of it at first anyway. They take it out as soon as you can breathe on your own. I was in the hospital for 6 days and went back to work at week 5. I ended up with 8 small incisions on the right side. There is pain at first, but they give you meds for that. It is still a major surgery, and it does take some time for your body to recuperate. Take it easy and be good to yourself. By 6 weeks post-op I felt great. I feel great now, it is so wonderful to have a new lease on life. Best of luck to you. If you have any questions, please ask.
Sharlea
mitral valve repair with the Divinci Robot 10-20-09