getting surgery soon

I have a pacemaker for 3rd degree heart block. Without it, my heart does not beat at all. I'm scheduled to have intestinal surgery at the end of March. Has anyone had any complications in surgery with the pacemaker? For some reason I'm more concerned about this than I was about getting the pacemaker implanted.

2 Comments

monitoring

by Tracey_E - 2014-02-23 10:02:10

Have a talk with the surgeon and anesthesiologist in advance. It's not a big deal, but the pm needs to be monitored and I believe put in test mode during the surgery. Good luck.

Been there

by cohara - 2014-02-23 12:02:16

LisB,

Have had half of my thyroid removed and abdominal surgery with a PM. Like you, I am pacemaker dependent and was worried more about keeping the pacemaker safe than other issues. The actions I took were:

-You will need a pacer check before surgery. Get a copy of the printout. I took mine with me in case the programming went awry.

-Most hospitals and surgery centers require that the pacemaker is checked before discharging you. For me, this was my rep I see all the time. If something went amiss, he had the settings I brought with me. Nothing did happen, by the way.

-It is the electrocautery that is the danger during surgery. Talk to your surgeon and anesthesiologist about your concerns and the need to keep the grounding plate below the waist.

-They will tell you that they put a magnet on the PM and it is magically protected. It isn't that simple. Have a candid conversation with the anesthesiologist about your concerns. I also talked about this with my pacemaker rep and provided the surgical team with his direct number. He was available in case of emergency. This was more important for the thyroid surgery since it was within inches of the PM. There is less of an issue with the abdomen.

I never experienced an issue, but at least I felt I had done what I could to advocate for my own safety.

Best of luck,
Carol

You know you're wired when...

Intel inside is your motto.

Member Quotes

I feel so incredibly thankful that I can continue to live my life.