After the Procedure:

Expect to spend 5 to 7 days in the hospital after surgery. You will spend the first night in the ICU and may stay there for 1 or 2 days. Two to three tubes will be in your chest to drain fluid from around your heart. These are usually removed 1 to 3 days after surgery.

You may have a catheter (flexible tube) in your bladder to drain urine. You may also have intravenous (IV, in a vein) lines to deliver fluids. Nurses will closely watch monitors that show information about your vital signs (your pulse, temperature, and breathing).

You will be moved to a regular hospital room from the ICU. Your nurses and doctors will continue to monitor your heart and vital signs until you are stable enough to go home. You will receive pain medicine to control pain around your surgical cut.

Your nurse will help you slowly resume some activity. You may begin a program to make your heart and body stronger.

A temporary pacemaker may be placed in your heart if your heart rate becomes too slow after surgery.

Outlook (Prognosis):

Mechanical heart valves do not fail often. However, blood clots develop on them. If a blood clot forms, you may have a stroke. Bleeding can occur, but this is rare.

Biological valves tend to fail over time. But they have a lower risk of blood clots.

For best results, have aortic valve surgery at a center that does many of these procedures.