Protruding pacemaker

Hello everybody! I just want to say thanks in advance for any insights you're willing to share. It's comforting to know there's a community out there.

So, I just had surgery to replace my pacemaker for the second time (this is my third pacemaker) 11 days ago. My concern is that my pacemaker isn't fitting into my pocket the same way the other ones did?! This new pacemaker is the same model and size of my last one, but instead of laying flat it's protruding on the right side, quite a bit. It almost feels like it needs to be pushed into the pocket deeper to the left, toward my armpit. I called the hosptial where I had my surgery and they told me (without inspecting the site) that this is likely because of scar tissue -- that they couldn't put it in the exact same way-- and possibly swelling. They said the pacemaker will likely settle into the pocket and lay more flat over the next month or so. It sounds possible?! But should I be more concerned? If the pacemaker does need to be repositioned, is it better to do this sooner after surgery or later? Waiting to see if I'm going to have to live with a protruding device, possibly unnecessarily, isn't fun. 

2 Comments

wait

by Tracey_E - 2019-01-26 09:09:38

It can take 6 months up to a year for it to settle fully, so they probably wouldn't want to discuss repositioning until that time. It will for sure get better than it is now because of swelling.

My newest one (#5) protrudes a bit also. Sometimes it shifts when I sleep on my left side and sometimes the edge of my workout bras catch it, annoying but it's not painful so I chose not to mess with it. My ep said the movement wouldn't damage my leads, that was my main concern. So I'll just whine occasionally until the next replacement. 

Remodelling of pacemaker pouch

by Selwyn - 2019-01-26 11:22:03

The answer to your question is, "later". Remodelling  occurs over a number of weeks. Certainly 6 months would not be unreasonable to take a wait and see attitude.

Swelling and bruising can take more than 11 days to settle. It is too early to predict the future lie of the pacemaker. 

You know you're wired when...

Bad hair days can be blamed on your device shorting out.

Member Quotes

I've seen many posts about people being concerned about exercise after having a device so thought I would let you know that yesterday I raced my first marathon since having my pacemaker fitted in fall 2004.