The Durdans Heart Centre uses advanced minimally invasive techniques in cardiac surgical procedures. The technique has been performed at the Centre for over 8 years. The team has been successful in using up to 4-5 grafts in Minimally Invasive Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (MIDCAB) surgery. Minimally invasive mitral valve replacement and repair, aortic valve replacement and hole-in-the-heart closures are also performed using minimally invasive techniques.         

 The benefits of minimally invasive surgery are a smaller cut, faster recovery and shorter hospital stay. Patients face no-down time and can even drive themselves home after or lift heavy objects after surgery. Minimally invasive surgery is performed through a keyhole incision on the side of the chest. A traditional cut right down the middle of the chest that goes through the breast bone is avoided, making healing time faster.  This is beneficial for patients with the presence of more than one disorder in the body and who are therefore at higher risk of morbidity or mortality.

While minimally invasive surgery presents multiple benefits to patients, it is more complex than open heart surgery; requiring great skill and dedication. Durdans Hospital’s Resident Cardiothoracic surgeon Dr Kesava Dev leads a highly qualified cardiac surgical team that includes Resident anaesthetist Dr Anand Ragunathan.

Durdans Heart Centre also recently performed a minimally invasive Re-do Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (Re- do CABG) considered a first in Sri Lanka. The patient Mr. W.W. Karunaratne, having had an open heart bypass operation 18 years ago made this re-do CABG a complex and high risk operation.

 He said, “After the surgery I was sent to the ICU and I was conscious by 9 p.m. I didn’t feel as if I had been in surgery. I touched my chest but couldn’t feel anything. Then I touched my leg, because I remembered that in the previous bypass surgery done in India, veins were taken from my left leg, but there was nothing. I thought maybe the surgery had been stopped due to its risky nature. I inquired of staff and they told me, , ‘Mr Karunaratne your surgery is over, try and get some sleep’. It was hard for me to believe.” Durdans Heart Centre has performed over 12 000 cardiac surgical procedures since its inception over 20 years ago. It remains the leader in cardiac care having been the first hospital to have established a fully fledged centre for cardiac care at a time that patients were travelling abroad for cardiac operations. The Centre continues to shape and define cardiac care in Sri Lanka.

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