Raja Parvez Akhtar, Abdul Rehman Abid, Hasnain Zafar, Syed Javed Raza Gardezi, Abdul Waheed, Jawad Sajid Khan.
Non-cardiac surgery in patients with prosthetic heart valves: a 12 years experience
J Coll Physicians Surg Pak Oct 2007;17(10):583-6.
Services Institute of Medical Sciences, Lahore

Objective: To study patients with mechanical heart valves undergoing non-cardiac surgery and their anticoagulation management during these procedures. Study Design: It was a cohort study. Place and Duration of Study : The study was conducted at the Department of Cardiac Surgery, Punjab Institute of Cardiology, Lahore and Department of Surgery, Services Institute of Medical Sciences, Lahore, from September 1994 to June 2006. Patients and Methods: Patients with mechanical heart valves undergoing non-cardiac surgical operation during this period, were included. Their anticoagulation was monitored and anticoagulation related complications were recorded. Results: In this study, 507 consecutive patients with a mechanical heart valve replacement were followed-up. Forty two (8.28%) patients underwent non-cardiac surgical operations of which 24 (57.1%) were for abdominal and non-abdominal surgeries, 5 (20.8%) were emergency and 19 (79.2%) were planned. There were 18 (42.9%) caesarean sections for pregnancies. Among the 24 procedures, there were 7(29.1%) laparotomies, 7(29.1%) hernia repairs, 2 (8.3%) cholecystectomies, 2 (8.3%) hysterectomies, 1(4.1%) craniotomy, 1(4.1%) spinal surgery for neuroblastoma, 1(4.1%) ankle fracture and 1(4.1%) carbuncle. No untoward valve or anticoagulation related complication was seen during this period. Conclusion: Patients with mechanical valve prosthesis on life-long anticoagulation, if managed properly, can undergo any type of noncardiac surgical operation with minimal risk.

Category: Cardiac Surgery
Keywords: Rheumatic Heart Disease. Prosthetic Heart Valves. Valvular Heart Disease.

Click here for Full Text Article

This article has been viewed 208 times

Submit your Research Synopsis for Free Expert analysis - Search- Feedback - Drug Index
Post and View Comments on this Article