Is it painful to replace a heart valve?

Heart valve replacement is a general anesthesia surgery, is not felt pain, but in the postoperative period may bring a lot of complications, so that the patient’s quality of life has been reduced. Currently, most clinical heart valve replacement surgeries are minimally invasive, with less trauma, faster recovery and less pain. Even if surgical open-heart surgery is used, because of general anesthesia during the operation, patients do not have any pain, but it is necessary to take the extracorporeal circulation for treatment after cardiac arrest, which is relatively more damaging. However, it takes more time for patients to fully recover from the surgery, and they need to undergo several post-surgical checkups. In the case of metal valves, anticoagulant medication may need to be applied for years, and even regular valve replacement may be required, which will reduce the quality of life. All in all, valve replacement surgery may not be physically painful during the procedure, but it can cause a certain degree of pain after the surgery.