TECAB = Totally Endoscopic Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting

On 9/26/06 , OR-Live will feature a video showing Beating Heart Totally Endoscopic Coronary Artery Bypass (TECAB) using the da Vinci robotic system.

May be the days of the big open-heart-surgery-scars will be gone soon.

According to Dr. Srivastava who will demonstrate the surgery on OR-Live:

"The vision of ideal CABG performed through ports on a beating heart with the use of arterial grafts may become the standard for future revascularization approaches where sternotomy will be a historical marker in the distant past for many patients".

Conventional coronary bypass surgery is done by splitting the sternum, putting the patient on a heart lung machine, and doing the bypass on a stopped heart. It can take up to two months before the patient can go back to a normal lifestyle. Many patients who have undergone TECAB using the da Vinci system have gone home the next day. The majority leave the hospital in less than three days and are back to functional recovery in one to two weeks, with minimal or no pain."

References:
Beating Heart Totally Endoscopic Coronary Artery Bypass using the da Vinci robotic system. OR-Live.com.
Ongoing procedure development in robotically assisted totally endoscopic coronary artery bypass grafting (TECAB). Heart Surg Forum. 2005;8(4):E287-91.