Name: Keyhole Heart Surgery
Contributor: D. Nelson, Dept of Biomedical Engineering
Synopsis:
Surgeons have been interested in developing procedures that are less invasive. These procedures involve less risk and recovery time for the patient, and less cost for the institution. The downside of these procedures is that, sometimes, the testing of the new technology is rushed in order to get the procedure into widespread use.
Minimally invasive heart surgery using the Keyhole Heart Surgery technique was one such process that was used in 1999. This procedure permitted the patient to be out of the hospital and recovering at home in a very short time. The downside of the procedure was that the FDA licensed it without, as some parties allege, adequate testing. Secondly, the surgeons developing the procedure and teaching it to others had a financial interest in the process.