Excerpts: Heart Surgery in America: “Epiphany”

Cannulas and Cannulation Options for Minimally Invasive Surgery

Traditionally, cardiac surgery has been practiced primarily through a median sternotomy; however, as instrumentation and experience continue to advance at exponential rates, the field of minimally invasive cardiac surgery (MICS) is rapidly expanding. When compared with a conventional sternotomy, alternative access offers patients the potential benefits of decreased infection risk, reduced transfusion requirements, decreased length of admission, quicker return to normal activity, and, perhaps most important for patients, improved cosmesis. We hereby discuss our approach to cannulation for MICS operations.