Port-Access Coronary Artery Bypass

Abstract

Fueled by the success of laparoscopie and thoracoscopic techniques, recent developments in minimally invasive surgery are now being applied to cardiac surgery. The obvious advantages to the patient include a smaller incision, less pain, an improved cosmetic result, and a potentially shorter recovery time. However, owing to the high degree of accuracy and precision required for cardiac surgery and the need for cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and myocardial protection for most cardiac surgical procedures, methods of minimally invasive cardiac surgery were slow to develop. Newly proposed techniques for minimally invasive cardiac surgery had to meet the dual challenges of being less invasive while achieving outcomes equivalent to those of established techniques without compromising safety or efficacy. These goals could not be accomplished on a widespread basis with beating heart techniques, nor could these goals be achieved until less invasive methods of extracorporeal perfusion and cardioplegic arrest were developed.