What is Congenital Heart Operations And Interventions

Aftercare of the children who have undergone cardiac procedures and surgeries is as important, and in some occasions, more important than the actual procedure performed.

The primary care paediatrician should be well versed with the cardiac anatomy and the ongoing physiology following the cardiac surgery.Some general rules applicable to all children following cardiac intervention surgery:
1) All common ailments should be treated as it is done for any other child. Most children can begin or continue their routine immunizations about one month after their surgery.

2) Restriction of physical activities depends on the underlying uncorrected cardiac lesion and the treating cardiologist should be consulted in this regard.

3) Pericardial collection can develop following discharge after cardiac surgery.

This is particularly common after closure of ASD. The collection may occur as early as a few days following discharge.

4) Except patients operated for simple left to right shunts (ASD, VSD, PDA)all other children will need infective endocarditis (IE) prophylaxis for an indefinite period irrespective of the completeness of the repair.

5) Late unexpected death is a known complication in any complex congenital heart repair and the majority is due to arrhythmias. Checking the regularity of the rhythm is an important aspect of the follow-up in these children.