What is the average length of hospital stay with the Maze Procedure?
Most patients are hospitalized an average of 10-12 days. Much of that time is spent waiting for the atrial tissue swelling to decrease postoperatively and the return of the sinus node function. Patients are usually in the intensive care unit for two days and the remainder of the time is spent on the step down unit. Typically, once patients reach the step-down phase, they are ambulatory (able to walk about) with a portable telemetry monitor (about the size of a Walkman) waiting for stabilization of the rhythm.
