Pediatric Cardiac Surgery

Congenital heart surgery deals with congenital heart diseases accompanied by one or more defects in the heart of the baby. These defects can be completely closed or repaired. In some cases, there may be repetitive operations that follow each other over the years. There are many varity of congenital heart defects. Some of these are complex congenital pathology, while others are minor heart defects. These defects can be inside the heart or in the great vessels coming out of the heart. In some cases, it is necessary to intervene immediately after the birth of the baby. Sometimes, the baby can safely wait weeks, months or even years under the control of a doctor.

Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) ligation or division

In the fetal circulation of the prenatal baby, there is a structure called the ductus arteriosus, which provides blood passage between the aorta and pulmonary vessels coming out of the heart. Under normal conditions, it gradually shrinks and closes immediately after birth. In cases where the ductus arteriosus does not close, medical treatment is tried first. Patent ductus arteriosus is closed surgically by ligation or division in infants who do not respond to treatment. Rarely, there may be pediatric patients with unrecognized patent ductus arteriosus who have reached advanced age.

In this surgery, the PDA is reached with an incision of approximately 3-5 cm made on the left side or left anterior side of the baby. The heart-lung machine used in other open heart surgery procedures is not used and the PDA is closed without stopping the heart. The procedure is done under general anesthesia. Afterwards, the baby is followed up in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) by a cardiac anesthesiologist and cardiac surgeon. The baby is taken to the service after staying in the intensive care unit for 1 or 2 nights. Postoperative 3-4th day baby could be ready for discharge.