How long does heart surgery take?
Heart surgery duration varies significantly by procedure. Coronary artery bypass (CABG) typically takes 3-5 hours. Valve replacement or repair takes 3-4 hours. Combined CABG-valve surgery takes 4-6 hours. Aortic root replacement takes 4-6 hours. Complex aortic arch surgery can take 6-10+ hours. TAVR (transcatheter) typically takes 1-2 hours. These times include anesthesia induction and bypass time but not pre-operative preparation.
The complete answer.
The total time from entering the operating room to leaving may be 1-2 hours longer than the surgical time itself, due to anesthesia preparation, positioning, and wound closure. Cardiopulmonary bypass (heart-lung machine) time — the period when the heart is stopped — is a subset of total operative time and is a predictor of complications. Shorter bypass times generally correlate with better outcomes. Minimally invasive approaches may take slightly longer operatively but result in shorter overall recovery.
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