Heart Lung by-pass pump with the DiVinci robot.

[Jay Wright]

I have a mitral valve repair scheduled for late March '12. Decided on the Di Vinci robot and am interested in the way the heart/lung pump hooks up and the after effects, especially in the groin area. With an open heart, you get a direct hook-up. Otherwise, it is kind of a jury rig, I guess. I am a 69 year old male, no symptoms, bad regurg (4), but for now, it is an elective surgery. I do a lot of bicycling (75 miles/wk) so a sore groin is not something I want to deal with.

 

[ejc61]

Hello Jay,

My case was similar to yours except I was 47 at the time. I believe in total there were 4 incisions around the right breast area all about 1/2" or so. There may have been one in the neck and one in the right groin no more than an inch or so. I don't know which incisions were specifically heart/lung machine related. I don't think there's any special set-up and I think your on it for about 90 minutes. After healing, you cannot see any scars. I like to bicycle as well. I rode 10 miles on the 4 week anniversary. There were no groin issues then or since. At about 7 weeks, I took the kayak out on a lake for an hour or so. Again, no physical limitations or pain. It was a non-factor for me. Just do your walking in the hospital and at home. Keep in mind that with any heart surgery, there is a chance of plueral effusion/pericarditis. I did get a case of that at about the 8 week mark and that was more painful than any aspect of the actual surgery. I do sometimes wonder if I pushed to hard with the kayak but it worked out fine by the 12 week mark. Good luck.

 

[Jay Wright]

Thanks for the info. I will use the bike ride as a motivator to get back in shape.

 

[Lynlw]

Some times they need to use the groin for the heart/lung for other reasons than min invasive. Justin's incision was about 2 or so inches long and it was a little sore in the beginning, first week or so, but his main complaint and I've heard others with the same things was part of your thigh may be numb for a while. However both things are pretty much back to normal by the time you can ride your bike, unless you have some rare complication. Justin had a larg part of his thogh that was numb in the beginning and slowly the numb area got smaller and smaller until no spos were numb, it took a couple months if i remeber right, but didnt cause any problems just felt weird

 

[Luana]

I had a thoracotomy incision, not the da Vinci robotic surgery, but my heart/lung machine connections were done in the groin. Incisions were about an inch and not bothersome during healing. It's a conventional connection, not jerry-rigged at all.