Preparing for Heart Surgery

Prior to heart surgery you will need to have the following tests to evaluate your present health status:

• ECG (electrocardiogram)
• Blood tests
• Chest x-ray
• Urine sample

Members of your heart surgery team will stop by to see you prior to surgery to answer any questions that you may have and explain important information about your surgery and recovery. The team includes your cardiac surgeon and nurse or physician assistant, cardiologist and nurse, anesthesiologist, family physician, a cardiac rehabilitation nurse, and respiratory therapist.

Your family is welcome and encouraged to be present during these nonscheduled discussions.

The Night Before Surgery

• Shower with a special cleansing soap twice as directed. Avoid using this soap to wash your face or hair. Do not put any lotions, powders, or oils on your skin following use of the special cleansing soap (If showers are taken at home, use a mild, non-fragrant soap.)
• Receive your regular evening meal
• Receive sleeping medication at bedtime if needed
• Receive a fleets enema if ordered by your surgeon
• Sign a surgical consent form
• Not eat or drink anything after midnight

The Morning of Surgery
You will also be asked to shower with special cleansing soap on the morning of your surgery.

Just prior to surgery, you will be asked to put on a hospital gown. All jewelry, hairpins, dentures, undergarments, and prosthesis need to be removed and given to your family. Security has a locked cabinet if necessary if your family is unavailable to take your personal items.

You will be asked to empty your bladder just before your preoperative medication is given. The preop medication will help you to relax.

You will be taken by a hospital cart to the holding area. Your family may accompany you to this point.

In the holding area, you will be seen again by your anesthesiologist who will:

• Start intravenous fluids.
• Insert a catheter into your wrist which will provide us with continuous blood pressure readings and will be used to obtain blood samples during and after surgery. The special catheter is called an arterial line.
• Place another catheter into a vein in your neck which measures the pressures in your heart during and after surgery. This catheter is called a pulmonary artery catheter or Swan Ganz catheter.
• After this preparation, you will be brought to the surgical suite and your anesthesiologist will put you to sleep.
• A catheter will be inserted into your bladder after you are asleep to measure your urine output.

After Surgery
Immediately after surgery you will be taken to the Surgical Heart Unit (SHU) where the doctors, nurses and other health care professionals work together with you for a smooth recovery. Most patients spend approximately two days in the SHU.

In the SHU you will be surrounded by many tubes and pieces of equipment used to monitor your condition. You will be sedated and probably will not remember the events of this day.

Routine equipment includes:

• Tube in your mouth attached to a breathing machine used until you wake up after surgery
• Chest tubes to drain blood from the surgical area which are removed usually the first or second day after surgery
• A catheter in your bladder to measure urine output which is usually removed the first or second day after surgery
• A heart monitor to let us know if there are any changes in your heart rate or rhythm
• Temporary pacemaker wires to be used if necessary to regulate your heart beat
• Intravenous lines