Riyadh: King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre (KFSH) in Riyadh has significantly reduced the hospital stay for children undergoing surgery for congenital heart defects by 44% for those eligible for minimally invasive procedures. The average length of stay has decreased from nine days with conventional surgery to five days.
According to Saudi Press Agency, this reduction is a result of KFSH's minimally invasive pediatric congenital heart surgery program, which was launched in mid-2023. The program allows surgeons to access the heart through a small incision between the ribs, avoiding the need to divide the breastbone as in traditional open-heart surgery. This initiative has positioned KFSH as a regional leader in advanced minimally invasive surgery for children with congenital heart defects and as the only center in the region performing such procedures for left-sided congenital heart defects.
Dr. Hani Al-Sergani, Executive Director of the Heart Centre of Excellence at KFSH, highlighted the program's success in treating 54 pediatric congenital heart cases, showcasing the program's maturity and its capacity to manage intricate conditions. He emphasized that the minimally invasive approach reduces the surgical impact on the chest wall, eases post-operative pain, facilitates earlier breathing and movement, and speeds up recovery, making the treatment experience less challenging for children and their families.
Dr. Maryam Alomair, who leads the program, pointed out that performing minimally invasive heart surgery on children requires extraordinary precision due to the small size of pediatric anatomy and the challenges of operating on the heart at an early age. The procedure depends heavily on the close coordination of cardiac surgery, anesthesia, and intensive care teams, especially when treating very small patients. One of the cases involved a three-month-old infant weighing just four kilograms.