pacemaker location problem

hi all,
this is my first post here,as i felt that this was the place where i could share my concerns.my 2 yr old niece was born with a slow heartbeat.after doctor's advice ,a pacemaker was implanted on her leftside on 07/13/07.after a month, today the doctor tells them that her tissues are not growing,so they have to relocate it somewhere near the stomach in a couple of days.she is in India,and is being treated at the best hospital from a doctor who studied here in the U.S.we are all very worried,but i am the only one away from them.that's when i decided to write and discuss here.talking to my sister got so emotional.does anybody know about such complications in such young children?any suggestions?

1 Comments

pm location

by CathrynB - 2007-08-23 10:08:41

Hi Pam,
If you don't get much in the way of responses to your question, it's because the situation you describe may be relatively uncommon, so perhaps no one has had the exact situation.
Your sister and niece are fortunate to have a caring, concerned person such as you in their lives.
I have read of a number of children on this site who had their pacemakers implanted in their abdomen -- I have the impression that's not unusual because kids are so active and not necessarily as cautious as we adults at taking good care not to impact their PM site when they run, fall, play sports, etc. The abdomen apparently is a better protected site for kid's pms. I've also heard the pm and electrical leads may require replacing more often because kids grow so fast and the leads need to be long over time.
I got my first PM in January (I'm 50 though, not a kid) and had to have it relocated 6 months later because of skin erosion and other problems with it's location. The relocation surgery was a snap because my electrical leads did not need replacement. After one month I'm completely pain free and back to all my usual activities. But I have no idea whether your niece would need new, longer electrical leads, in which case the surgery would be much like the original one, but with another incision at the new location.
Smitty and Stepford_Wife are two folks on this site who are fabulous researchers and often look up technical information even though they've had no experience with a particular question. Perhaps one of them, or someone else with similar experience, will chime in here.
We wish your niece all the best with the surgery, and please let us know how it goes for her. You will be in the thoughts and prayers of many on this site.
Take care, Cathryn

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