If you have Afib and are going to have surgery, your two heart issues can be corrected during one surgery. Here are four important reasons why.

1. Medical societies, which guide doctors’ treatment, recommend it. Those societies say that people with Afib who are having heart surgery should get surgical ablation too.^20-24
2. It can help stop the Afib and reduce burden on the heart. Yet only about 20-30% of people who have Afib before their surgery get a surgical ablation.^16,25,26
3. Studies show that surgical ablation has the highest chance to restore a normal heart rhythm. The studies found that this is true for people with non-paroxysmal Afib—the type of Afib that lasts more than a week.^15-19
4. Maybe most important, surgical ablation has shown to help people to live longer.^27-29

Make Sure Your Heart Surgeon Knows If You Have Afib

You’ll probably have questions about your planned heart surgery. When you talk to your doctor or nurse before the surgery, mention if you know, or think, that you have Afib. It’s also important to tell the surgeon if you have:

• Had heart palpitations
• Taken blood thinners
• Taken medication for your heart
• An irregular heart rhythm

You might be a candidate for surgical ablation—to treat your Afib—during your heart surgery.