Open-heart surgery is one of the most prominent types of serious surgical operations, in which the chest is opened and surgery is performed on the heart muscles, valves, or arteries. However, today many new heart operations can be performed through small incisions only and not with wide openings.

Perhaps the reasons for performing open heart surgery are:
1: Repair or replace the heart valves that allow blood to pass through the heart.

2: Repair damaged or abnormal areas of the heart.

3: Implanting medical devices that help the heart beat properly.

4: Replacing the damaged heart with a donor heart (heart transplant).

It is generally performed by following these basic steps:

1: The patient is given general anesthesia. This ensures that they will be asleep and pain-free during the entire surgery.

2: The surgeon makes an 8- to 10-inch incision in the chest.

3: The surgeon cuts all or part of the chest bone to expose the heart.

4:Once the heart becomes visible, the patient may be connected to a heart-lung bypass machine. The device moves blood away from the heart so the surgeon can operate. Some newer procedures do not use this device.

5: The surgeon uses a healthy vein or artery to create a new path around the blocked artery.

6: The surgeon closes the breastbone with wire, leaving the wire inside the body.

After completing the procedure, and when you wake up, you will notice that there are two or three tubes connected to your chest, and their role is to drain fluids from the area around your heart. The doctor may provide you with a tube in your arm to nourish you, and another tube to your bladder with the aim of emptying it.
You will also be connected to a medical device that evaluates your heart function. After open-heart surgery, you will spend the first night in the intensive care unit, in order to receive the necessary medical care, and then you will be transferred to another room, to complete the treatment.