Intermountain Health Nurses in Colorado Link Bra Fit, Fabric to Heart Surgery Outcomes
There are a number of factors that may complicate recovery from open-heart surgery, but for female patients, bra size and fit shouldn’t be one of them.
Yet, too often, it is. Medical professionals have long known the weight of larger breasts can strain the surgical incisions after open heart surgery and sometimes cause them to open.
Cardiac nurses at Intermountain Health Saint Joseph Hospital in Denver noticed that several women with larger breasts were readmitted to the hospital after heart surgery, an indication the that the post-surgical bras commonly prescribed by clinicians were not necessarily up to the task of helping patients heal properly. Many post-operative heart patients said their bras were too small, scratchy or hot.
Saint Joe’s cardiac nurses Lauren Zobec and Sarah Duart decided to investigate alternatives, and soon came across a bra designed by a woman specifically for patients after breast surgery.
“It’s buttery soft, comfortable and supportive,” Zobec said. This new bra has openings on the sides, and it comes in sizes from small to 6XL.
The new bra costs $5 more but promises better outcomes and savings for the patient. By significantly reducing the chance for complications, patients not only are more comfortable, but less prone to readmissions.
The improved model is now in use at Saint Joe’s, which reports no post-operative wounds among the 71 female open heart surgery patients since then.