tricuspid heart valve replacement

Tricuspid Valve Replacement

As with all heart disease, it must be diagnosed quickly and treated by experts which we offer at our London Heart Clinic. We understand that heart disease can be scary, and that if you are diagnosed with it, it’s best to be prepared, and to have all the information you may need. Here, we run through why you may need tricuspid surgery, how we perform it, and the advantages of having minimally invasive tricuspid surgery London.

Why might you need to tricuspid valve replacement?

If you have a disease affecting the tricuspid valve, you may need tricuspid valve replacement. The tricuspid valve is one of the valves that regulates blood flow through the heart and keeps it flowing in the correct direction. When the tricuspid valve isn’t working properly, it means your blood won’t flow as it is meant to, which interferes with how your heart works, and may force it to work harder in order to get the blood to the various parts of your body that it needs to. This puts extra stress on your heart, which can lead to larger risk of heart problems and attacks.

The need for surgery will vary from person to person and will be monitored by your doctor – in some cases, monitoring is all that is necessary. But in some situations, tricuspid surgery is necessary to prevent any further issues – which can be as serious as death.

How do we perform tricuspid valve replacement surgery?

Both isolated tricuspid valve repair and tricuspid valve replacement can be performed by keyhole (minimally invasive) approaches at our London Heart Clinic.

While you are under anaesthetic, this is done by your doctor inserting a long, thin tube into your heart through a blood vessel in the groin. The tricuspid valve can then be repaired or replaced through a very small opening between the ribs on the right-hand side of the chest. Sometimes, we can even repair or replace the tricuspid valve through the blood vessel in the groin without any cuts in the chest at all.

What are the benefits of Tricuspid Valve Replacement?

There are many benefits to having keyhole surgery for isolated tricuspid valve surgery London repair or tricuspid valve replacement, instead of traditional breastbone division methods of surgery. We would recommend minimally invasive surgery in all cases where it can be utilised, and where the patient is suitable.

Lesser recovery time

Because keyhole surgery is minimally invasive and does not involve breaking the breastbone, it only takes a week to heal and to get back to your life, rather than the traditional three or so months you may have to take after open heart surgery through the breastbone.

Smaller scars

Due to the small size of the incision, your scar will be minimal, and will be positioned in a place that will not be too ‘obvious’ – some of our keyhole surgeries are performed via the groin, meaning you won’t have any scarring of the chest at all. Usually, open heart surgery will lead to a 12-inch scar, whereas keyhole surgery will usually only leave you with a 3-inch scar or smaller.

Less pain

Because a smaller incision with no breastbone break is used, the cut during keyhole surgery is much less painful. You should still rest after keyhole surgery, and due to the fact you have undergone heart surgery you may still feel some mild pain, but the pain will be much more mild than traditional surgery.

Less bleeding

Because the incision is so small, the bleeding afterwards will be minimal.

Less chance of infection

There is no bone infection risk as no bones are broken during the operation, and there is less chance of infection generally due to the smaller incision and less invasive nature of the surgery.