Recovery

How to recover from a heart valve replacement

It usually takes 2 to 3 months to fully recover from a heart valve replacement if you had it done with cuts in your chest (open heart surgery or minimally invasive surgery).

Recovery is quicker if you had it done using a catheter passed into a blood vessel in your leg (transcatheter aortic valve implantation, or TAVI).

After a heart valve replacement:

you'll have a wound in your chest from the surgery, or a small wound where a catheter was inserted
if you had wires in your breastbone, they'll usually be left in place permanently
you may have some pain in your chest, back or shoulders
you'll usually feel tired for the first few weeks
you may have less appetite than usual for the first few days

Recovering in hospital

You'll usually spend about a week in hospital, or 2 to 3 days if you had TAVI.

You'll have some pain or discomfort. You'll be given pain relief to help with this.

You'll have help from nurses and physiotherapists to start getting out of bed and moving around from the day after the operation.

You can go home once doctors are happy that you can safely get around and are recovering well. You'll need to arrange for someone to drive you home.

Recovering at home

You'll have follow-up appointments to check how you're recovering. You may also be offered a programme of exercise and support to help you recover (cardiac rehabilitation).

You should find that your heart valve disease symptoms such as chest pain and shortness of breath improve.

If you have a mechanical heart valve, you'll be prescribed an anticoagulant medicine (usually warfarin). You'll need to take this for the rest of your life to help prevent blood clots.

Your care team will give you advice about things to do to help your recovery.

Do

try to arrange for someone to help look after you for at least the first few days after you go home
follow your care team's advice about caring for your wounds while they heal
take painkillers if you need them
start being active, such as going for walks, as soon as you feel well enough
follow your care team's advice about exercise to help you build up your fitness
eat a healthy, balanced diet to help keep your heart healthy
look after your teeth and gums, and have regular dental check-ups, as dental problems can lead to a serious infection in your heart (endocarditis)
tell your dentist that you've had a heart valve replacement if you need any dental treatment - you may need to take antibiotics
if you take warfarin, carry the anticoagulant alert card that you're given, and show this to the person treating you before you have any medical or dental procedures
if you take warfarin, be careful when doing activities that could cause cuts or bruising, as warfarin can make you bleed more than normal
if you have a bus, coach or lorry licence, tell the DVLA that you've had a heart valve replacement on the GOV.UK website

Don't

do not do any heavy lifting for 3 months
do not drive for at least 4 weeks (or 3 months if you have a bus, coach or lorry licence)
do not smoke - get help to quit smoking if you need it

Read the British Heart Foundation's guide to having heart surgery

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