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Things To Expect After The Maze Procedure

You should learn about maze procedure recovery which can help you decide if the surgery is right for you, which in turn, will help you prepare for a successful recovery. Recovery for a maze procedure depends on how your surgery was done, for instance, recovery period will be longer for an open-heart procedure compared to a less invasive procedure (which may be done through small cuts in the chest). The maze procedure is a surgical treatment for atrial fibrillation (AFib) that is used to control the irregular heartbeat and restore the normal rhythm of the heart.


Doctors typically recommend the maze procedure when medicines has not worked to relieve your symptoms from AFib, you have symptoms of AFib and are having another heart surgery, you are having another heart surgery and adding the maze procedure doesn’t pose any danger or isn’t risky, you cannot have catheter ablation (the most common treatment for AFib), or you prefer surgery to anything else, and lastly, you’ve already had catheter ablation but you still have AFib.

Now let us talk about what recovery will probably look like after a maze procedure:

1.      Doctors usually resort to maze procedure to treat AFib when medicines or catheter ablation has not proven effective, since a surgical maze procedure typically requires a longer hospital stay (7-10 days) than catheter ablation, which includes a stay in the ICU (the first 2 or 3 days after surgery). Though for a mini-maze procedure, your stay in the intensive care unit will be as short as a few hours or up to a day or so.

2.      Problems from the procedure are rare, but like any other medical procedure, the maze procedure as well comes with some risk. For example, complications like coughing or trouble breathing (breathing exercises can help), fluid retention (mainly treated with a diuretic), nausea from anesthesia or pain medicines, and pain and discomfort in the chest, ribs, and shoulders, can develop while you’re in the hospital after a maze surgery, or within the first several days during recovery.

3.      You’ll need to see your surgeon in about a week after you leave hospital, and you will need to go to several follow-up appointments, which will ensure you are healing properly. You also need to see your cardiologist within a month of your discharge from hospital, who’ll evaluate your heart rhythm during check up. After the surgery, you’ll also need an electrocardiogram in the third, sixth and twelfth month after surgery for your doctor to study your heart rhythm.

4.      If it is a minimally invasive mini-maze procedure, you can expect to get back to normal activities (can even return to work) within a few days, but for a full maze procedure, returning to work and normal activities will take longer, may be eight weeks or longer as it’s open heart surgery, which involves a full incision through the breastbone to open the chest cavity. Most doctors recommend a cardiac rehab program following the surgery as this exercise and lifestyle program is known to accelerate recovery after a heart surgery.

5.      The maze procedure has good long-term results for treating AFib, and the success rate is very high for the right candidates for this procedure (which doctors determine), resolving AFib in about 9 people out of 10. You might be required to take heart rhythm medicine (antiarrhythmics) after the procedure.

It is important that if you’ve decided to go ahead with maze procedure, make sure to ask potential doctors about their rates of success with your specific type of AFib, and also choose a hospital for your surgery wisely.

To sign up for a CPR course, contact CPR Tampa in Palm Harbor on 727-240-9404.

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