Robot-assisted Heart Surgery in Turkey Keeps Pace with Global Development

Cardiac surgery in Turkey is in a state of continuous development to keep pace with the scientific development in the most developed countries of the world to serve quality health care services to patients from all around the world with its distinct capabilities and competitive prices, as Turkey, in the last decade in a half, has shown a wonderful progress in this field in terms of number of successful surgical operations and qualified medical professionals.

Heart surgery in turkey

With the development of medical tourism industry, hospitals and medical facilities in Turkey have become fully prepared to accept the most advanced and complicated surgical cases including cardiac surgical cases for both adults and children.

Who does robotic heart surgery ?

The heart surgeries that are performed with robotic assistance are the same as those performed with the open heart technique, with some differences as to how to perform the procedure and how to surgically reach the heart muscle, and that difference is translated into a smoother postoperative recovery and lower complications.

Why is open heart surgery needed ?

An open-heart surgery is usually performed to treat multiple conditions, such as repairing a damaged heart valve that does not work well, or replacing a valve with a new one, or to make connections between different heart chambers, or to close a hole.

This open-heart surgery technique is considered to be somewhat traditional, but what distinguishes Turkey's hospitals is that they can perform these operations with a different surgical technique using an advanced surgical robot.

Read More : Thoracic Surgery

Open-heart surgical technique vs heart robotic surgery

Cardiac surgeons perform cardiac surgery using the surgical robot to do the surgical intervention through small openings that do not exceed a few centimeters instead of open the chest cavity as in the open heart technique or traditional heart surgery, instead, the surgeon get access to the chest cavity by opening tiny holes between the rips through which they advance their small surgical tools and camera, which saves the patient a lot of pain, and speeds up the postoperative recovery.

Surprisingly, the surgeon gets a greater range of vision and motion in the surgical field using the robot-assisted technique than in traditional open heart technique.

Why robotic heart surgery ?

In addition to that, sometimes and in certain cases robot heart surgery is the only solution available to treat some patients. 
For example, if a patient has a history or multiple open cardiac surgeries and again an indication arises to perform another heart surgery, performing the procedure again using open heart technique will pose very big risk, given the high possibility of cardiac muscle injury during the chest cavity opening process, in such situation in Turkish hospitals instead of performing the surgery with the traditional way, the new robotic-assisted technique can be used and the surgical opening is made in the armpit area, not exceeding four centimeters, and the same procedure can be accomplished using the surgical robot, without endangering the patient’s life.

On the other hand, robotic heart surgery is not a valid option for all patients, as the treating cardiac surgeon assesses each patient individually, based on every person’s condition and according to their medical and surgical history, and considering the nature of the procedure to be done, and how suitable it is for each patient.

Robotic Beating Heart Surgery

It is also worth noting that, in traditional open-heart surgeries, the heart muscle is stopped before the operation begins, while in the advanced hospitals in Turkey the procedure is done on the heart while it is beating, and the surgical intervention takes place with the assistance of a robot using the latest surgical technologies in the world. After finishing the surgical work, whether it is a valve repair or a valve replacement that small surgical opening in the heart is closed.

Robotic heart surgery recovery time

The use of this advanced technology in cardiac surgery in Turkey has eliminated the need for the large and complicated surgical procedures used to reach small points within the heart muscle. And again this technology is particularly useful in some cases with a history of multiple open heart surgeries as the use of this technique can help us avoid the areas where several previous operations were performed, thus decreasing the rate of complications dramatically in those patients.

Read More : Vascular Surgery

How long does robotic heart valve surgery take ?

Also, the lack of the need to stop the heart during the surgery ensures that no problems occur when restarting it, moreover, the heart surgery using a robot takes less time than traditional heart surgeries, and it also reduces the possibility of infection and inflammation at the surgical site, it also reduces the risk of bleeding and massive blood transfusions.

Risks of robotic heart surgery

This type of advanced surgical techniques definitely requires advanced scientific technology and qualified surgeons with enough expertise in this field, as the surgeon needs years of training to reach the level of experience required to conduct this type of surgical intervention, but this surgeries are performed daily and regularly in the specialized Turkish hospitals.

How is robotic heart surgery is done

In robotic heart surgery, the surgeons reach your heart by opening small incisions between the ribs of the chest and advances the fine robotic surgical instruments along with a high-definition camera and an electric light.

Is Robotic surgery safer than traditional surgery?

Unlike the open-heart surgery in Turkey, the surgeon doesn’t use their hands directly but rather, they use special control arms to manipulate the surgical instruments, and these instruments translate the surgeon’s hand movements. The surgeon views your heart in a magnified high-definition three-dimensional view while they are operating. The surgical team in the operating room assists the surgeon helping them change the instruments attached to the robotic arms.

A system for robotic heart surgery

The surgeon guides the operation through a computer-like device, where they clearly see a magnified and three-dimensional image of the surgical site, and controls the field of vision and magnification through a control unit in front of them and it is worth mentioning that the surgeon stays in full control of these surgical instrument during the entire procedure.

Robotic heart surgery experience in turkey

Cardiac surgeons in Turkey hospitals have extensive experience and training in performing cardiac surgery using the surgical robot to treat many heart conditions, as they perform a large number of operations of this type each year, in addition to that, doctors and researchers in specialized Turkish hospitals conduct scientific research to study these techniques and follow scientific studies, modifications, and new standards and guidelines regarding this surgical technique.

Medical tourism in Turkey

This advanced technology add other elements of success to those who wish to get treatment in Turkey, and a strong incentive to the success of medical tourism in Turkey, which has become one of the most important destinations for health tourism.

"Ilajak Medical" is honored to provide you with free multidisciplinary online consultations, and to offer you all the services related to the field of healthcare and medical tourism in Turkey, wishing all of you good health.

Source: ACIBADEM International

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