How to Determine Length of Stay in the Hospital After Open Heart Surgery

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By eHow Contributing Writer

Article Rating: (8 Ratings)

Open heart surgery is a major operation and the hours following surgery are considered critical. The duration of your hospital stay after the surgery depends on the exact condition or healing of the heart. Read on to learn how to determine the length of stay in the hospital after open heart surgery.

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Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Step 1

Gather information about your surgery after the anesthesia has worn off.
Step 2

Find out from the surgeon and your relatives how long the operation lasted. Know that you will be kept for a minimum 24 hours in the cardiac surgical intensive care.
Step 3

Ask the surgeon about the present condition of your heart. Your stay in the hospital will greatly depend on the post-operative condition of the heart.
Step 4

Note that heart patients usually stay for four days or longer in the hospital after surgery. Some patients are advised to stay longer due to complications.
Step 5

Ask your surgeon about the healing process. Also ask if the condition of your heart is improving and about the number of days you will have to stay in hospital. Your surgeon is the best person to decide when you should be discharged.
Step 6

Ask your friend or relative who have undergone open heart surgery about the length of their hospital stay.

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Comments

nuvitas said

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on 8/26/2008 How long you are in the hospital post
cardiac surgery will be determined by
your overall health condition.

For instance if a person has a healthy
heart (has not suffered a heart attack)
and has no other health problems the
stay will most likely be the minimum.

Also if a person smokes this may also
cause a longer hospital stay depending
on how healthy the lungs are.

Another factor that many people ignore
is the willingness of the person, who has
undergone cardiovascular surgery, to
get up and start moving. (walking)

Asking someone who has had the surgery
will not give you a good indication of how
long the stay will be. There are too many
individual factors.