Leads and arms above shoulder level

I'm tryin to behave. Really.

I understand the "no arms above the shoulder" rule for a month.

Would that apply to the arm not associated with the device? 

Reason I'm asking, I do a lot of cooking in the house and I need to be able to reach pots hanging from the ceiling

Thanks for you patience. - Mike

 

1 Comments

No, not necessary

by crustyg - 2020-06-26 10:28:49

The reason for the no-lifting elbow above the shoulder for some weeks is that the point where the pacing leads enter the big vein they've used (axillary or subclavian vein) there's a really strong anchor that fixes each lead.  When you really stretch your arm on the implant side, this vein is pulled outwards, so it necessarily pulls the anchor(s) and lead(s) away from the heart.  If your EP doc has judged the lead length correctly, and with modern active fixation nothing bad will happen as there should be enough slack to allow for this- but just occasionally this action can dislodge a lead that isn't yet very well anchored (fibrous tissue grows around the lead tip and really secures it to the heart muscle).

This isn't an issue on the other side of your body, so you can reach up with that arm.

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