Gundersen Lutheran Offers Heart Surgery with Less Pain, Faster Recovery

LA CROSSE, Wis., Dec. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Prem Rabindranauth, MD, a heart surgeon at Gundersen Lutheran Health System in La Crosse, Wis., is using an exciting technique, called minimally invasive coronary surgery (MICS), to perform heart bypass surgery. To perform MICS, a very small three-inch cut is made between the ribs instead of the long cut through the breast bone that is needed with traditional open heart surgery. This means less pain and blood loss, fewer risks for problems, shorter hospital stays and quicker healing time.

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Since 2010, Dr. Rabindranauth has performed more than 125 MICS procedures and has seen faster, easier recoveries for his patients compared to those who have the traditional open heart surgery.

Gundersen Lutheran is one of the few hospitals in the nation using the MICS approach to do up to three or four bypass repairs in a single surgery. Surgeons at Gundersen Lutheran have also used the minimally invasive approach for heart valve repair, and have even done a successful double minimally invasive surgery in which a valve repair was done from the right side of the chest and bypass from the left side.

"Patients having minimally invasive heart surgery at Gundersen Lutheran are spending fewer days in the hospital compared to patients who have traditional open heart surgery," comments Dr. Rabindranauth. "Also, because MICS patients have a smaller incision, there is less risk of infection and they are recovering in about half the time, so they can return to work and other activities sooner."

Dr. Rabindranauth also says that some patients, who in the past may not have been able to have open heart surgery because of their poor health, are now able to have bypass surgery using MICS.

To learn more, go to gundluth.org/heart or contact the Gundersen Lutheran Heart Institute at (800) 362-9567.

About Gundersen Lutheran

Based in La Crosse, Wis., Gundersen Lutheran Health System is a multi-specialty group medical practice with hospitals and clinics throughout western Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota and northeastern Iowa that provide emergency, specialty and primary care services. HealthGrades® ranked Gundersen Lutheran Health System in the upper 2% of hospitals in the country for cardiac care in 2012, #1 in Wisconsin for cardiac care in 2011 and 2012. To find the latest news releases, go to gundluth.org/news.

SOURCE Gundersen Lutheran Health System