Gallbladder Surgery

Not quite switch-off!

by crustyg - 2020-01-21 07:31:23

Hi: They will need to set your PM to a 'safe' pacing mode where it ignores most of the sensed information - which may well be messed up by the diathermy that they use during surgery (one setting to coagulate blood vessels, another to actually cut tissue).

As many PM patients are PM-dependent they can't simply switch off your PM!  What they do is have an EP tech set your PM to this 'safe' mode, do the surgery, and then once you're in the Recovery room, have your PM set it back to the normal settings.

They also take particular care to avoid using the diathermy return plate under your chest (too close to your heart) etc.

HTH.

Gall bladder

by Skeet - 2020-01-21 14:14:17

CAROLEAF, they do mess with your pacemaker. I have had two gall bladder surgery in the last two months. First was a failure. The second one four weeks later was finally successful, but they did mess with my pacermaker. When I woke up the next morning there was a pacemaker tech hooking me up to the little machine they have, and asking me what my settings were. Well I don't know all my settings, just some of them, and he didn't know any of them. I would consult pacemaker tech and be sure your surgeon knows you have a pacemaker as surgery can affect it. Good luck with your surgery.  

Skeet

Gall Bladder surgery

by caroleaf - 2020-01-21 14:46:10

Thank you for your replies, I'm relieved to hear that I will have some cover during surgery as my PM is pacing about 80% of the time.

i am not sure of my settings though but hope these will be obtained before the 19th.

i am far more worried about my PM than I am about the surgery!

If they know what they are doing they will have an EP tech attend *before* and after

by crustyg - 2020-01-21 17:35:02

As I said, a competent team will have an EP tech perform an interrogation *before* surgery, set your PM to 'safe' mode, and then restore you to status quo ante after the surgery, when you should have your previous settings restored.  Exactly as they do for an MRI scan.

You say you have a Medtronic unit: if you had a BostonSci unit with MV enabled, *and* you needed to be mechanically ventilated post-op (so things haven't gone well....) they would need to disable MV for a while.  Otherwise there *shouldn't* be any need not to return your settings to what they were before the operation.

Best wishes.

Gall bladder surgery

by caroleaf - 2020-01-22 09:54:48

Thank you Crustyg, I'm afraid I don't have your knowledge of this type of thing at all but  I feel more relaxed about it all now from your comments, which were thankfully  far more explanatory than the hospitals!