What to do if your baby has a heart valve defect

Heart disease is very harmful to our body. Among them, heart valve defect is a more serious type of heart disease, and it also poses a certain threat to our life safety. It often requires surgery. However, surgery is very harmful to the body. If you want your body to recover faster, you must pay special attention after surgery. Let's take a look at the precautions after heart valve defect surgery.

Precautions after heart valve defect surgery

1. Get enough rest within 3 months after surgery

Generally speaking, the patient can be discharged from the hospital one week after the valve replacement surgery. After returning home, the patient generally needs to rest for 3 to 6 months. The three months after surgery is an important stage for recovering from surgical trauma and stabilizing the functions of various systems and organs. During this period, patients should get enough rest and avoid colds. Live a regular life and avoid being overly tired or overly excited. You can do some appropriate activities (such as taking a walk, doing some housework, etc.), but if you feel uncomfortable such as palpitations, shortness of breath, etc. during the activities, you should rest immediately and reduce the amount of activity appropriately.

Generally speaking, patients can take a shower 2 weeks after surgery. When taking a bath, they should be careful to avoid catching cold and not rubbing the wound. After taking a bath, the wound should be cleaned with disinfectant. If you find any abnormal symptoms such as exudation, redness, swelling, etc. in the incision, you should go to the hospital immediately. Since the healing time of the sternum is generally about 3 months, patients should avoid chest expansion exercises, lifting heavy objects or holding children in the early postoperative period. Additionally, patients should not drive within 3 months after surgery.

2 Gradually return to normal 3 to 6 months after surgery

If the recovery goes smoothly and no complications occur, the patient can gradually increase the amount of activity (without feeling panic or shortness of breath) starting from 3 months after the operation, until he or she gradually returns to normal work and life. During the recovery process, patients should always maintain a happy mood and an optimistic and positive attitude, and not be impatient or overly worried. At the same time, do not suddenly increase your activity or workload due to a sudden impulse or impatience to avoid damage to heart function.

3. Eat a light diet, quit smoking and drinking

After discharge, patients can gradually resume normal diet according to their personal eating habits and appropriately strengthen nutrition to promote wound healing. Of course, "enhanced nutrition" does not mean eating delicacies from land and sea or taking supplements every day, but eating more nutritious and easily digestible foods, such as lean meat, fish, eggs, fruits and seasonal vegetables. Patients undergoing valve replacement generally have no special dietary restrictions, but since some foods (such as spinach, tomatoes, pork liver, etc.) are rich in vitamin K, they may interfere with anticoagulant therapy and should be avoided in large quantities. In addition, to avoid increasing the burden on the heart, patients should not eat too salty food and must not drink alcohol or smoke. Patients with poor heart function should also limit their water intake and avoid eating large amounts of porridge and soup.

4. Take medicine as directed by your doctor and do not stop taking medicine without authorization

Since most valve replacement patients have a certain degree of heart function damage, the surgery is undoubtedly a heavy blow to their fragile hearts. In order to protect and improve heart function, patients should not stop taking medication suddenly after surgery and should take medication strictly according to the doctor's instructions. At the same time, patients should also pay close attention to changes in their urine volume, observe whether there is edema or heaviness in the limbs, and monitor their pulse. If the pulse is less than 60 beats per minute, they should stop taking digoxin. Generally speaking, patients need to take medication for 3 months after surgery, and then the dosage can be gradually reduced under the guidance of a doctor based on the follow-up results. Before stopping the medication, the patient must go to the hospital for a follow-up examination and must not stop the medication without authorization.

5. Adhere to anticoagulation therapy

There are two main types of artificial valves: biological valves and mechanical valves. Because the artificial valve is a "foreign body" to the heart, blood can easily coagulate on the artificial valve, leading to thromboembolism (such as cerebral infarction) or artificial valve dysfunction. Therefore, all valve replacement patients require anticoagulant therapy. Generally speaking, patients who undergo bioprosthetic valve replacement need to take aspirin and clopidogrel orally for 6 months, and then gradually stop taking the medication. Patients with mechanical heart valve replacement and atrial fibrillation need to take anticoagulants for life

The above is an introduction to the precautions after heart valve defect surgery. After understanding it, we know that after heart valve defect surgery, we must pay attention to bed rest and must insist on taking medications. In addition, we must pay attention to the balance of diet and also do regular physical examinations.