What Is an LVAD?
An LVAD helps the heart pump blood through the body. An LVAD doesn’t cure heart failure. It doesn’t replace the heart, and it’s not an artificial heart. It’s a device that attaches to the heart.
Thousands of people have received LVADs since 2006. It’s possible for a patient’s heart to repair itself while attached to an LVAD, but this is extremely rare. It only happens 5% of the time.
Below are the working parts of an LVAD, which are placed both inside and outside the body.
LVAD and Heart Transplant
Sometimes a person who gets an LVAD as a Destination Therapy can get stronger or improve in other ways that make him or her eligible for a transplant. However, for most people, the LVAD is a Destination Therapy.
Talk with your doctor about how getting an LVAD can affect your chances of changing status from Destination Therapy to Bridge to Transplant.
LVAD Surgery: What to Expect
How sick you are affects how you’ll do during LVAD surgery and with the LVAD. Your doctor will tell you if you are eligible for an LVAD. If you decide to have LVAD surgery, you will need to take steps to prepare.
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During Surgery
– bleeding, requiring blood transfusions (This is common.)
– stroke
– infection
– right side heart failure
– renal failure and respiratory failure
LVAD surgery also has the same risks as other major surgery. These include the risks that come with being under anesthesia, the risks of being in the hospital, and the risks that come with using a breathing machine.
Your surgeon will talk to you more about the risks. In the event that there are complications during your surgery, please discuss Advance Care Planning with your healthcare team.
After Surgery
Recovery from LVAD surgery is different for every patient. Recovery is easier for some people than for others.
Some of the factors that may affect your recovery include:
Hospital Stay and Rehabilitation
Some people are so sick before LVAD surgery that they stay in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and hospital for a longer time compared with patients who are less sick. They also spend more time in physical rehabilitation (rehab).
Most people stay in the ICU for 7-10 days, but this may be different at different hospitals.
Ask how long the average stay is at your hospital.
LVAD is major surgery. You will have tubes in your chest and mechanical sleeves on your legs. You may also have temporary pacing wires, IV drips to provide continuous medications, and a breathing machine. You will most likely be in some pain, though it soon gets better for many patients. Pain can also be managed with medication.
After you leave the ICU, you’ll stay in the hospital or in a rehab facility for another several days.
For the average patient, the hospital stay (including intensive care and rehabilitation) after surgery is at least two to three weeks. You’ll have physical and occupational therapy to help you get strong enough to go home.
Recovery occurs on a spectrum and every patient may recover differently.