Robotic or Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery for Adult and Adolescent Congenital Heart Disease

Robotic and minimally invasive heart surgery in adult congenital patients allows the cardiac surgeon to perform the procedure through small incisions in the chest rather than performing a sternotomy.

Minimally invasive surgical approaches for congenital heart disease are typically used for first time operations. Robotic-assisted procedures can be used to repair holes in the heart, fix valve-related problems, arrhythmia issues, as well as some coronary bypass grafting. There is usually less pain, reduced risk of infection, and shorter recovery time. Minimally invasive approaches are frequently used in older patients due to the space required to insert the robot into the body cavity. As technology advances and tools become smaller, surgeons will be able to use these techniques on smaller patients.