Lesser impairment of respiratory function is the mechanism of faster recovery after partial sternotomy for valve replacement: Reply.

In our study, we found that patients undergoing an MS have less bleeding and postoperative pain, shorter intensive care unit and hospital stays, and consequently, reduced operation costs. Therefore, we believe that with additional training and a short learning curve, surgeons can use the MS approach and thereby realize enormous advantages for their patients. Although some studies find only a slight advantage and others demonstrate no difference in recovery between MS and full-length incision, our experience provides enough data for further discussions and more studies with larger numbers of patients