Why the study?
Minimally invasive mitral valve surgery is performed with increasing frequency with potential benefits suggested by observational studies, prompting a review of available evidence and institutional experience.
Minimally invasive mitral valve surgery via right minithoracotomy may offer benefits such as decreased bleeding, reduced pain, and shorter hospital stays compared to traditional sternotomy.
Should not yet change surgical practice; leaves open need for randomized trials to confirm benefits.
Minimally invasive mitral valve surgery is generally performed through a right minithoracotomy, in contrast to the traditional full median sternotomy approach. Minimally invasive mitral valve surgery is performed with increasing frequency, and by reducing surgical trauma, several observational studies suggest potential benefits with decreased bleeding and postoperative pain, reduced incidence of sternal wound infections, reduced length of hospital stay and shortened recovery period after surgery. In this review, we present an overview of mitral valve surgery, summarize the available evidence regarding the minimally invasive approach and report our experiences from introducing a minimally invasive mitral valve surgery programme at the Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden.
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Kastengren et al. (2019) studied this question.
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