Increasing Mobility After Sternotomy: An Interview with Marc Gerdisch

During the 2023 59^th Annual STS Meeting, Professor Marc Gerdisch, Chief of Cardiac Surgery at the Franciscan Health Heart Center, was kind enough to sit down with CTSNet Associate Editor Jill Ley to share insight into his contribution to the meeting’s ‘Contemporary Perioperative Management’ program. Dr. Gerdisch Presented on the topic of “Increasing Mobility After Sternotomy” from the perspective of his role as senior partner with Cardiac Surgery Associates specializing in complex heart valve surgery. In this interview, he expands on the context by which the study assesses patient outcomes.

Topics covered:

• Presentation overview
• Patient opioid usage
• Patient recovery—accurate metrics of success
• Urgent reoperation concerns

Following success using an innovative nerve-block technique to expedite restoration of full activity for patients undergoing minimally invasive valve surgery, the Franciscan team developed a multi-modal process to accomplish similar mobility acceleration for sternotomy patients. In what Dr. Gerdisch deems “ERAS Cardiac 2.0,” the program has evolved to encompass every phase of care achieving restoration of full patient activity and major reductions in extended care discharges. For past information on the protocols, read the program article.

Further explore this topic with Dr. Gerdisch through a previously aired ERAS Cardiac Society & CTSNet webinar. Also check out Dr. Gerdisch’s own Guest Editor Series covering the topic of surgical atrial fibrillation, featuring a host of comprehensive videos and a panel webinar.