Patient Satisfaction With Minimally Invasive Cardiac Incisions: A Retrospective Single-Centre Survey

Background Minimally invasive cardiac surgery (MICS) may offer benefits such as reduced intra-operative bleeding, improved postoperative pain and reduction in wound-related complications such as surgical site infection and wound dehiscence, when compared to median sternotomy (MS). Patient satisfaction may be furthered through improved scar cosmesis. However, to the best of our knowledge no study has formally assessed the scar-related satisfaction associated with MICS. This study was designed to analyse the scar-related satisfaction in patients who underwent cardiac surgery via MICS vs MS. Method A four-question survey was proposed to our patient cohorts via telephone following verbal consent, at least nine months following their operation. The survey consisted of two open questions regarding postoperative analgesia use and days taken to return to daily activities, one visual analogue scale regarding scar satisfaction (1-10) and one binary question regarding tolerance for scar positioning. Additional patient data including age, gender, duration of surgery, and postoperative length of stay, amongst others, were extracted from our patient database. Results Our study shows a reduction in postoperative length of stay (p=0.033) and days taking painkillers (0.049) in the MICS group. Furthermore, scar satisfaction in this group was improved (p=0.032) with a reduction in the number of patients bothered by the location of the scar (p<0.001). 62.5% of the MS group reported that they would have preferred to have had their operation facilitated through MICS. Conclusion Little research has been done comparing patient satisfaction in patients undergoing minimally invasive cardiac surgery compared to traditional median sternotomy. Our paper shows that minimally invasive cardiac surgery may confer benefit with regard to cosmesis of scar, hospital stay and overall patient satisfaction. Minimally invasive cardiac surgery can improve cosmesis, as shown by our results, which may help boost body image and confidence.