Life after Open Heart Surgery In an open heart surgery the chest is cut open and the surgery is performed on the muscles, valves or arteries of the heart. The most common type of open heart surgery is coronary artery bypass surgery, also known as CABG surgery. In this procedure a healthy vein or artery is grafted to the artery which is blocked, so that the heart receives fresh blood supply.
Often it has been seen that the patient and his family goes through a great amount of emotional trauma during and after the surgery. Somehow there is lot of fear among the patient community on open heart surgery. With so many qualified and experienced doctors, there has been a high success rate of this surgery. Life after the open heart surgery can be a little different. Here are certain things which you need to keep in mind after the CABG surgery. Once the surgery is done it is normal that the patient experiences tightness, itching and/ or numbness along the incision. But at the same time you need to keep in mind that this pain is different than the chest pain which was experienced before the surgery. In case the veins from your legs have been used for grafting, then it is natural that you experience pain in the legs. The stiffness and tightness caused by the graft can be brought down by going on short walks, engaging in your daily activities and most of all giving it some time to recover.