The Operating Theatre Journal - Flipbook - Page 18
Pensioner goes home within hours of having
heart valve replacement surgery
Photo Caption: Donald Raybould (second on the right) with the TAVI team at Shef昀椀eld Teaching Hospitals just before he was discharged
An 86-year-old man who was able to go home on the same day as
having a heart valve replacement at Shef昀椀eld Teaching Hospitals NHS
Foundation Trust has said he can’t believe how good he feels just days
after undergoing the pioneering ‘light touch’ procedure.
Donald Raybould, from Chester昀椀eld, went into the Northern General
Hospital for the minimally invasive TAVI (transcatheter aortic valve
implantation) procedure at 7.30am on Tuesday 30 January and went
home 昀椀ve hours post-procedure.
The pioneering service, which was introduced by heart doctors and
nurses at Shef昀椀eld Teaching Hospitals last year, enables patients aged
75 and over who have severe heart valve disease and who cannot
undergo open-heart surgery due to their advancing age to have their
heart valves replaced without the need for a general anaesthetic.
Patients typically go home 2-3 days after their procedure and have a
shorter recovery period, but Donald made it home in record time.
“I went in at 7.30am with my little bag of stuff and I was expecting to
stay in for at least a couple of days but whilst I was lying 昀氀at during
the procedure the surgeon said, ‘with a little bit of luck we’ll get you
home tonight’. I was amazed.”
A few hours later, the granddad-of-three who was diagnosed with
aortic stenosis (a severe narrowing of the heart valve) a year ago, had
recovered enough to sit up and immediately noticed a difference.
“I had been lying 昀氀at after the surgery for a while, but when I 昀椀nally
got up and the bleeding had stopped, I felt so much better. I was
amazed at how good I felt.”
Donald remained in the recovery area of the Northern General
Hospital’s Chesterman unit for a further few hours, but thanks to the
light sedation and minimal access approach to heart, he was 昀椀t and well
enough to go home, and discharged by 5pm.
Since returning home he has continued to feel the bene昀椀ts of the ‘light
touch’ TAVI, with the former self-employed builder who retired at the
age of 67 having nothing but praise for the specialist team of doctors,
nurses, radiographers and physiologists at Shef昀椀eld Teaching Hospitals:
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“I’ve always been active, I do my gardening and my hobby is rebuilding
old motorbikes in the garage, but my narrowed heart valve meant I
could not work in the garden or 昀椀x up my beloved piles of rust. It’s only
been a couple of days since my op, but I feel so much better. Before
my op I’d been stopping twice to go upstairs or to the bathroom, but
now I can go upstairs without any problem. It’s given me my life back.
“I couldn’t be more grateful to the TAVI team at the Northern General
Hospital. They looked after me as if I were a prince. Every one of them
has been fabulous – from the nurses on the ward to the surgical team.
They have all been absolutely brilliant.”
TAVI is a relatively newer keyhole heart procedure which has been shown
to add another 10 to 15 quality years of life to elderly patients with
severe heart valve disease. This is important because left untreated,
survival rates for elderly patients with this form of the disease are
worse than some cancers in this population group.
Heart valve disease also remains ‘silent’ in many patients – meaning
symptoms are not picked up on until they are at their severest.
The light sedation is particularly bene昀椀cial for older patients who are
more vulnerable to the risks of serious complications from a general
anaesthetic. It also allows for a shorter post-operative recovery time
and reduced hospital stay.
Interventional Cardiologist Dr Muhammad A. Rahman at Shef昀椀eld
Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “Donald has been a
fantastic patient, and we are delighted to have got him home on the
same day as his ‘light touch’ heart valve op.
“The whole TAVI team effort to get elderly heart patients like Donald
home, recovered, and able to live their life again, has been phenomenal
and whilst not everyone will be able to go home on the same day as
their ‘light touch’ TAVI we hope to keep pushing the boundaries and
using our specialist skills to transform the lives of hundreds of elderly
patients in the region.”
The ‘light touch’ TAVI service is currently offered to patients aged 75
and over with severe heart disease.
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