What Are Common Heart Valve Surgery Complications?
Excerpt from Chapter 16 of The Patient's Guide To Heart Valve Surgery (Revised Edition):
Following heart valve surgery, patients experience a very unique set of feelings. I personally remember these feelings following my aortic and pulmonary valve replacements.
On one hand, the patient is incredibly happy. Considering the trauma of the event, it feels remarkable to simply wake up following cardiac surgery.
On the other hand, the patient may also feel confused and frustrated. I say this because 42% of heart valve surgery patients report that recovering from cardiac surgery is more difficult than expected.
As my research for my book unfolded, I learned that many patients unknowingly embark on a mis-managed road to recovery following surgery. Personally, I experienced several issues following my heart valve replacement surgery including cardiac depression.
That said, patients can experience heightened sensations that "Something Is Wrong!" following heart surgery. Whether it is a heart palpitation, pain or chest-clicking, patients are often confronted by real, or even imagined, heart valve surgery complications.
As a result, questions arise in the patient's mind like:
- "What are the common heart valve surgery complications?"
- "Am I experiencing a heart valve complication that is not normal?"
- "Should I be worried?"
- "Should I go to the doctor for my heart valve surgery complicaton?"
To better understand patient complications after heart valve surgery, I conducted an extensive survey of several hundred former heart valve surgery patients.
Patient-Perceived Complications Following Heart Valve Surgery
One of the questions posed during this unique survey was, "Did you experience any form of heart valve surgery complications following your heart valve repair or heart valve replacement?"
As you can see on the chart below, 66% of patients responded that they encountered some form of "perceived" heart valve surgery complication following surgery.
