{"id":90,"date":"2007-08-12T20:22:21","date_gmt":"2007-08-13T01:22:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/2007\/08\/12\/what-is-the-usual-prep-for-open-heart-surgery\/"},"modified":"2025-07-15T13:26:16","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T18:26:16","slug":"what-is-the-usual-prep-for-open-heart-surgery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/2007\/08\/12\/what-is-the-usual-prep-for-open-heart-surgery\/","title":{"rendered":"What Are The Usual Patient Preparations For Open Heart Surgery?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier today, I received a great patient email that reads, “I’m scheduled for heart valve surgery in two weeks, can you please tell me what is the usual prep for open heart surgery?”<\/p>\n

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\"Preparations<\/p>\n

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That is a very important question for one critical reason. As I personally learned during my open heart surgery experience, knowing what to expect before-and-after surgery is incredibly helpful for the patient and their caregivers. Ultimately, knowing the preparations leading up to surgery may eliminate potential confusion and fear. (So you know, there are all different types of fear related to heart surgery – mortality, physical recovery, pain, operative success, reoperation, etc. To help minimize fear, you may want to read this post about dispelling the fear of heart surgery<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

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Preparations for Open Heart Surgery<\/h2>\n

Let’s back to the original question, “What is the usual prep for open heart surgery?”<\/p>\n

I can detail some common elements in this post. However, you should know this is a very difficult question to answer as different medical teams and hospitals may have different protocols and processes to complete an open heart surgery.\u00a0 For example, one hospital may adhere to the Enhanced Recovery After Cardiac Surgery (ERAS)<\/a> protocol while another cardiac center may follow a different protocol.<\/p>\n

That being said, here are some of the common steps and preparations that your medical may require prior to surgery:<\/p>\n