<s>[INST] Are There Minimally Invasive Surgery Approaches Available? [/INST] Open heart surgery, which involves opening the chest with a nine-inch incision and cutting through the sternum (sternotomy), has long been the standard approach for any of the valve replacement procedures described above.

Our heart valve specialists also offer several minimally invasive valve replacement procedures that are designed to result in less trauma, less blood loss, less pain and a shorter hospital stay:

Upper mini-sternotomy—for this technique, a small (three-inch) incision is made in the chest, and much of the sternum remains intact. Minimally invasive surgery can be then performed through this incision six cm in length
Minimally invasive mitral valve surgery can be performed through a lower sternotomy
Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR)
Other interventional cardiology procedures:
Percutaneous mitral valvuloplasty, or widening of the valve
Percutaneous aortic valvuloplasty
MitraClip Source: BRIGHAM AND WOMENS. Link: https://www.brighamandwomens.org/heart-and-vascular-center/diseases-and-conditions/heart-valve-disease. Field: Cardiovascular. Disease: Heart Valve Disease </s>