Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 16, 2025
Author Spotlight: Simulating Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Using a Neonatal Piglet Model
Published on: May 26, 2023
Pediatric heart surgery minimally invasive: experience of a Colombian center
Keerby Hernández-Ruiz1, Diana Fajardo2, Luis H Díaz3
1Servicio de Cardiología Pediátrica, Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Medellín, Colombia.
Insights
Minimally invasive cardiac surgery (MICS) in pediatric patients with congenital heart disease offers a safe and effective alternative to traditional sternotomy. MICS demonstrated comparable outcomes and a shorter intensive care unit stay.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Surgery
- Pediatric Cardiology
- Minimally Invasive Procedures
Background:
- Cardiac surgery is evolving towards less invasive techniques for faster patient recovery.
- Minimally invasive approaches are gaining traction, offering comparable safety and efficacy to traditional sternotomy.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare clinical outcomes between pediatric patients with congenital heart disease undergoing minimally invasive cardiac surgery (MICS) versus conventional sternotomy.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective cohort, case-control study of 122 pediatric patients (2014-2019).
- Patients underwent surgical correction for simple congenital heart disease.
- Cases: MICS approach; Controls: Conventional sternotomy approach.
Main Results:
- No significant differences in infusion times or complication rates between MICS and conventional sternotomy groups.
- MICS patients exhibited lower lactate levels on admission and shorter intensive care unit (ICU) stays.
- Baseline characteristics were similar between the MICS and conventional sternotomy groups.
Conclusions:
- Minimally invasive cardiac surgery (MICS) is a safe, effective, and less invasive technique for pediatric congenital heart disease repair.
- MICS presents a viable alternative to conventional sternotomy in pediatric cardiac surgery.
Objective:
During the last decades, cardiac surgery has revolutionized, there is a growing interest in minimizing the physical aggression of surgical procedures, seeking a quick recovery, minimally invasive approaches have been a trend in recent years, with safety and efficacy equivalent to traditional techniques sternotomy. The objective of this study is to compare clinical results between pediatric patients with congenital heart disease undergoing minimally invasive surgery versus standard sternotomy.
Methods:
Case-control study, nested in a retrospective cohort. All pediatric patients over 10 kg in weight were included, between 2014 and 2019 who underwent surgical correction of simple congenital heart disease, in a cardiovascular center in Medellin. A case was defined as one that underwent a minimally invasive approach (MICS) and control patients who were approached in a conventional manner (CONV). 122 patients were admitted, with a mean age (MICS: 6, 4-12 vs. CONV: 5, 2-8 years). No differences were found in the baseline characteristics of both groups. No statistically significant difference was documented in infusion times (MICS: 67 min [50-90] vs. CONV: 53 min [42-90]; p = 0.54), nor differences in complications (MICS: 7.4 vs. CONV: 8.8%; p = 0.77). MICS patients had lactate on admission and a shorter ICU stay than controls.
Conclusion:
The MICS approach turns out to be a novel, less invasive, safe and efficient technique compared to the conventional surgical approach for the repair of simple congenital heart disease in pediatric patients.
