Lead not seated

Hi there, a week after my pacemaker insertion it was discovered that one of my leads have detached. I went in yesterday to have it reattached. The surgeon was really upset that this happened and he talked about how hard the MRI compatible leads are to work with. I found this second procedure to be way more painful than the first - the first I couldn't remember anything, this one I believe I felt everything, to the point they told me it was ok to swear if I'd like.

My question is - how common is it for leads to come loose? I'm not sure what I did to have this happen but now I am ultra paranoid about having it happen again. How long does one have to be really careful?

3 Comments

leads

by Tracey_E - 2014-12-23 09:12:58

I don't know the numbers but all complications are less than 4% of pacer surgeries, so leads coming loose are a fraction of that. It's rare for a lead to come loose because of anything we did. They can come loose because they're not in a good spot to start with, it could be in a good spot but not stay attached to the heart wall, the shape of our heart could be such that it was hard to get a good spot, or other factors that had nothing to do with the skill of your surgeon or your movements. They're guiding it remotely using only x-ray all while the heart is beating away- when I think about it, I'm amazed they ever get them in first try.

When they put the lead in the vein, there is usually extra at the end which they coil and put behind the device. This means that the leads are not in tight so even if we move the wrong way, it's not going to tug on the lead.

On average they tell us to restrict our movements for 6 weeks, some drs say less, some say more but 6 weeks is a good average. By restrict, that means don't raise the arm higher than shoulder level or lift anything heavy. Other than that, it's important to use the arm normally so your shoulder doesn't freeze. My dr said that if it's going to come loose, it will happen in the first 24-48 hours. After that is just precaution.

Good luck!!! May you have smooth sailing from here.

Thanks!

by Charlotteis - 2014-12-24 12:12:59

Thank you so much for your response! That's great info and make me feel not quite so alone in this.

Charlotte

Lead Not Seated

by beachman - 2014-12-25 02:12:37

The morning after the PM was implanted they came in to check it and said something was wrong. They did an xray and said one lead was loose and at one oclock they were going to have to redo it.You were right the first one was painless but the second one was terrible. The Dr blamed it all on me but I don't think I did anything wrong. I was told that he attached one with a screw and one with a hook.Anyway I was charged for both procedures and it was more out of pocket.
It has been six months and I am not real happy with my PM. The beta blocker keeps me drained and lightheaded and short of breath and I continue to have the fear that a lead will pull loose. Merry Christmas!!!!!

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