Many patients who had this incision would testify that whenever the weather changes, they could feel pain in their wound. Because of this, recovery following traditional chest surgery is often slow and it is not uncommon for patients to stay in hospital for over ten days and not able to return to work for many weeks. The same chest operation can now be performed through a few small incisions. Major muscles don't need to be cut and ribs not spread. Postoperative pain is substantially less.
Patients can now go home a few days following major chest surgery.
This surgical approach has a profound positive effect on healthcare economics by shortening hospital stay and allowing patients to return to work earlier. In addition to lung surgery, the Chinese University has also pioneered in the development of minimal access heart surgery. Aortic valve replacement and aortic root replacement can now be safely carried out through a partial sternotomy, instead of through a conventional full sternotomy and thus, the trauma to body tissues and postoperative pain are greatly reduced. Minimal access surgery can also be applied to patients requiring coronary artery bypass grafting. The Faculty of Medicine of The Chinese University of Hong Kong performed the first case of beating-heart coronary artery bypass surgery in Hong Kong in 1996.