The Hybrid Operating Room: A Multidisciplinary Team Approach

Abstract

Recent advances in catheter-based endovascular procedures have changed treatment strategies toward less invasive forms of therapy for patients with cardiovascular diseases. This has generated interest in the development of “hybrid operating rooms”. These suites combine the capability of a traditional cardiac surgery operating room with advanced endovascular facilities that previously have been available only in catheterization laboratories. This arrangement offers patients the best available therapy for any specific subset of cardiovascular disease problems. At the Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute, the hybrid operating room is used to perform coronary artery bypass grafting concurrently with percutaneous coronary interventions. Also, minimally invasive mitral valve and direct coronary artery bypass operations are combined with percutaneous coronary interventions. Our multi-disciplinary team facilitated the design and functionality plan of our hybrid operating room. To provide optimal patient care, close cooperation has been necessary between individuals from various disciplines, including interventional cardiology, cardiac surgery, cardiopulmonary perfusion, cardiac anesthesiology, electrophysiology, and echocardiography, as well as specially trained nursing/support staff.