Some congenital heart defects are treated with surgery to help repair structural damage to the heart. Moderate to severe defects often are treated surgically soon after birth.

Some types of surgery are more invasive and take longer to recover from than others. The type of surgery used depends on the specific type of defect; sometimes more than one procedure is needed to repair the damage. Separate surgeries may be done over time, or a combination of procedures may be used, such as heart catheterization followed by surgery.

After surgery, it is possible for symptoms to return or for complications to develop later. In these cases, more surgeries also may be needed.