Open heart surgery is pretty safe and rarely causes death although it's still a serious surgery.
Open heart surgery is a major operation that requires close monitoring and immediate post-operative support.
It is normal for a person to remain in the intensive care unit (ICU) for a couple of days after the procedure to receive further care.
Healing time after open heart surgery will take at least two to three months.
After the open heart surgery you can expect to have good and bad days during this time and you may feel tired, irritable, anxious, depressed or simply not quite yourself for a few weeks.
Don't be worried if you express your moods and feelings more than before.
The types of heart surgery include.
Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG).
Heart valve repair or replacement.
Insertion of a pacemaker or an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD).
Maze surgery.
Aneurysm repair.
Heart transplant.
Insertion of a ventricular assist device (VAD) or total artificial heart (TAH).
Generally, open heart surgery is not a painful experience.
One notable exception is the removal of the drainage tubes, which typically occurs on post-operative day one.
It may feel a bit odd and sometimes can be a brief source of pain.
It will feel uncomfortable when you cough, laugh or sneeze.
After having open heart surgery or heart surgery your recovery will begin in the hospital's intensive care unit (ICU) and typically will continue in another area of the hospital for three to five days before you go home.
Once you have been discharged from the hospital, recovery typically takes six weeks or more.