“How long does it take for someone to recover from a cardiac surgery?”
My father underwent a bypass surgery. After he was discharged, he was doing the recommended exercises when suddenly his heart stitches opened up and he was rushed into the ICU again. How long will he take to recover from the surgery now?
7 Answers
Normally it takes 4-6 weeks to recover from heart surgery, however if complications happen recovery would be slower.
Hello. If the wound does not get infected, the time is still the same; if it does get infected, the healing could very from 1 to3-4 weeks. Thanks
The recovery period after heart surgery is different for everyone, depending.
Juan P. Montoya
Cardiothoracic Surgeon
Everyone is different. I tell my patients that no 2 people are alike. Some will recover within a few weeks, others may take longer. Usually, the more active patients (and older ones) recover more quickly. I usually give a ballpark of 4-8 weeks of full recovery.
It varies it’s longer recovery with diabetics
This question lacks sufficient information to answer appropriately. It is assumed that its the skin sutures that "opened up." If this event is a simple non-infected superficial dehisence, it should be only enough time for the re-closed incision to heal. If infected, superficial vs. deep is important to know. Deep usually means involvement of the sternal bone. If infected bone is involved, it depends on the procedure(s) needed to correct the problem. Deep infections take weeks and sometimes months to treat. A superficial infection not involving bone may take several weeks to heal and this also depends on the operation needed. If more information is available, a better answer is available.
Difficult question to answer not knowing what procedure was required when he was readmitted to the ICU (skin stitches or sternal wires were the problem). Most patients rebound pretty quickly with wound complications, unless an infection is part of the problem as supposed to cardiac problems. Overall, he should steadily improve.
