After Surgery

After most cardiothoracic surgery and after all open-heart surgery, your child will be taken to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit where your child will be taken care of by an experienced critical care nurse specially trained in cardiac care and by the Pediatric Intensivist together with the cardiologists, and other members of the team. The surgeon, cardiologist, intensive care fellow, surgical and cardiac nurse practitioners and intensive care nurse are all an integral part of the post-operative care team. The first 20 to 30 minutes or more after the child returns to the ICU are spent reconnecting all the monitoring lines, continuing various intravenous medications and connecting up the ventilator if necessary. You will then be invited in to visit. Usually only two family members may visit at a time. You may be asked to leave briefly during nursing shift and report times, but can be with your child most of the time. However, it is also important that you get rest.

Do not be surprised or upset at the number of arterial and venous and intracardiac lines and chest tubes that your child has in them. These are all routine. Your child may also be kept on a ventilator until stable. Sufficient pain medications and sedatives will be given to keep your child comfortable. The nurse taking care of your child is usually the best and easiest person for you to contact to ask about any changes in your child’s condition, but if you need to talk to the surgeon or any other member of the care team, let the nurse know and she will contact them. The surgeon is often in the operating room for three or four hours at a time and the surgical nurse practitioner, intensivist or cardiologist can usually answer any of your questions.