Education

As one of the pioneers of minimally invasive surgery in this region, Dr. Danko Grujić transformed the approach to the treatment of heart disease in Serbia and the region. His commitment to introducing Minimally Invasive Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting The method — bypass operations on a beating heart without opening the chest — has set new standards in medical practice. Thanks to hundreds of successfully performed procedures, our center has become a reference point where cutting-edge science and patient experiences which testify to an incredibly rapid recovery and return to a quality life.

Dr. Grujić performed the MICS CABG procedure on over 400 operated patients so far and elevates it to the level of a proctorship. In April 2024, with his team, he is educating cardiac surgeons at the Cardiac Surgery Clinic in Bonn. In August 2024, he performed the first minimally invasive bypass surgery at the Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases in Sremska Kamenica. and helped this institution start performing that type of operation.

In late September 2024, he performed the operation Five-vessel arterial bypass on a beating heart, without manipulation of the ascending aorta, via a minimally invasive approach, which is a procedure that had not been previously recorded in the world's literature, and published the operation. With his team, he performed bypass surgery in June 2025., with a right minimally invasive coronary artery bypass (right MIDCAB), a procedure performed in only two other centers in the world: Frankfurt and Toronto.

Visiting surgeon from the Heidelberg University Clinic (Germany)

Educating foreigners has its challenges.

The main challenge of minimally invasive bypass is achieving the same precision as with conventional surgery. Dr. Grujić's education program focuses on achieving „Enduring results“ – long-term stable results.

• Technical precision: Surgeons learn how to achieve a perfect anastomosis through an incision of only a few centimeters, which, according to scientific studies published in databases like Google Scholar, crucial for the longevity of the bypass.

• Minimal trauma: Mastery of instruments for working in confined spaces without compromising the quality of surgical work.

Foreigners' education also includes a unique postoperative protocol. Analyzing patient experiences, Dr. Grujić has standardized procedures that directly affect „Reduced length of hospital stay“ (significantly shortened hospital stay).

Education of Foreigners: Colleagues from Europe

Educating foreigners is Dr. Grujić's mission.

Numerous cardiac surgeons from Europe have undergone training in minimally invasive bypass from Dr. Danko Grujić and his team.

This is a surgery performed under general anesthesia., without cutting the breastbone (which is standard in most cardiothoracic surgeries), through a small 4-5 cm incision on the left side of the chest between the ribs, through the soft tissues, without cutting any bony structures.

All operations are performed on beating heart (as opposed to most cardiac surgery procedures, which are performed on a stopped heart and with the use of a heart-lung machine. During this operation, there is no manipulation of the ascending aorta. (in a classic operation, it is completely clamped).

Guest appearance in Bonn, educating a colleague on the gastric artery

Arteries are exclusively used as grafts in this type of surgery (proven to be the best grafts in cardiac surgery by all studies), and a complete revascularization of the heart is performed using a minimally invasive method with one to five bypasses. Depending on the anatomical needs and the nature of the coronary disease, a wide range of arterial grafts is used. The internal thoracic arteries (left and right internal mammary arteries) are used as first-choice grafts, as they are proven to be the longest-lasting grafts in cardiac surgery. Second and third-choice grafts are the radial arteries from the arm and the gastroepiploic artery from the stomach. This artery, as well as the inferior epigastric artery (from the anterior abdominal wall), Dr. Danko Grujić's team used this new herniary technique for the first time in Europe.

The results are excellent. Patient recovery is significantly different from traditional surgeries. The average hospital stay is 4 days, with a return to normal activities after just two weeks..

Cardiothoracic surgeon training from Greece, in Belgrade

What makes this procedure minimally invasive is, first and foremost avoidance of the use of a heart-lung machine, that is, the prevention of cardiac arrest. The operation is performed entirely on a beating heart.

The second component is avoidance of manipulations with the ascending aorta. These are all the procedures that are standardly used in classic cardiac surgery.

And finally, there is certainly also aesthetic effect these operations, which are often of the utmost importance to our patients.

Education of cardiac surgeons from Augsburg

First minimally invasive beating heart bypass in Madrid, July 2026.

First minimally invasive beating heart bypass in Augsburg, March 2026.

Dr. Danko Grujić and Prof. Fridrih