After heart surgery, your child will have an incision in the middle or the side of the chest, as well as other smaller wounds where tubes and medical equipment may have been. Check all these areas every day for infection signs, such as:

• pain
• swelling
• redness
• liquid draining from the wound

Your child’s surgical wounds shouldn’t need bandages unless they are oozing. If your child shows any of these signs, or develops a fever, call the Cardiology Center.

Keeping Surgical Wounds Clean

• Do not soak your child’s wounds in water until the area looks healed.
• Your child can take shallow baths or showers that do not completely soak the wounds.
• Clean the wound area every day with a soft cloth, clean water, and a gentle, pH-balanced baby soap.
• Gently pat dry.

Healing Process

Your child’s chest wound should heal fairly quickly. The scars will fade as time passes.

• Sun protection – You should always put sunscreen on your child’s exposed skin. However, it is especially important to put sunscreen on the new scar(s) after the surgical wounds have healed.
• Managing your child's pain – Your child will usually be prescribed pain medicine.  As time passes, the pain will become less severe. If your child’s pain gets worse contact the Cardiology Center.
• Limit physical activity for several weeks.
• Children can usually go back to school two weeks after surgery or when they feel well enough to go back.
• Keep your follow-up appointments at the Cardiology Outpatient Specialty Center after surgery.
• Talk to your child’s cardiologist before your child has any dental treatment, surgery, or other procedures.
• Ensure your child eats a well and balanced diet. Often times after a child has had heart surgery, they may have trouble eating enough to gain weight. Children with heart problems use more energy and need more calories.

Watch for the following signs that could signal a concern:

• Changes in feeding, such as decreased fluid intake
• Loss of appetite and weight loss
• Tiredness and sleeping during feedings or meals
• Shortness of breath or increased sweating while eating
• Vomiting or diarrhea
• Changes in breathing, such as breathing very quickly, especially when asleep
• Noisy breathing or making a grunting sound; increased sweating; ongoing cough
• Signs of wound infection, such as fever, redness, puffiness, increasing tenderness, or drainage from the wound
• Signs of water retention, such as swelling or puffiness of the eyelids, face, hands, or feet, swollen legs or ankles in older children, less urine or fewer wet diapers
• Changes in their skin color, such as paleness, skin with blotches on it, blueness of ?the lips, tongue or nail beds, rash on hands, feet, or body
• Changes in behavior, such as extreme sleepiness or irritability

Women should seek a specialized fetal echocardiogram, who have:

• a family history of congenital heart disease – if the mother has a congenital heart condition there is a 1 in 20 chance her child could have one. Also, there is a 1 in 50 chance if her previous child has a congenital heart defect
• fetal heart abnormalities detected during a routine pregnancy ultrasound
• abnormal amniocentesis
• abnormal fetal heart rhythm
• abnormality of another major organ system
• diabetes
• exposure to some drugs in early pregnancy, for example, some anti-epileptic drugs can damage the developing heart

When can a fetal echocardiogram be performed?

Heart motion in the fetus can be visualized at six weeks of gestation. However, details of heart structure cannot be seen until

• 14 weeks gestation using scanning through the vagina
• 18 weeks gestation using imaging through the abdomen