Battery Change and AV Node Ablation

Hi,
This is a great site and hopefully some has some insight re: my question.
My family member has a Biventricular pacemaker and ICD, placed in 2002. Anyway, the battery is up for replacement, but in the meantime my family member has also had an av node ablation (as such pacemaker dependent).
Does anyone know how they change the battery/unit while still keeping the heart paced? Has anyone else had a similar replacement?? I would appreciate any comments.

5 Comments

reply

by rc5000 - 2008-04-28 01:04:22

Thanks for the replies. After reading through other posts here, I can see that for a normal battery replacement the patient is usually under some kind of local anesthesia - would this still be the case if the person has an av node ablation? Or do they have to put one under general anesthesia? Just wondering, in case there are any thoughts. We are supposed to go in and see the EP Nurse soon.

PM change when 100% dependent

by janetinak - 2008-04-28 04:04:26

Hi,

I am sure that you will get a lot of responses but as I am up & on line I will tell you what I know. I had an AV node ablation & am 100% dependent with a single lead PM. I am on my 2nd PM & when they did the 2nd PM they also changed out the lead. All went well & I had to stay overnight as you do wth a new lead. That was in 2003 & all still going well.

I think they put the new PM in before they stop the 1st one so that is how they keep it all going OK. But I am sure someone will answer this question better than I have. I am just here to tell you that it can be done :-)!!

Hope that helps.

Janet

ablation

by Elizabeth4 - 2008-04-28 06:04:28

If the doctor feels the ablation may take a long time they may opt to do it under general anesthesia. Some ablation cases with full EP studies can last for 6-8 hours, but that isn't typical. They are, however, long and tedious procedures. Most straightforward cases are done with conscious sedation and local.

battery change

by Elizabeth4 - 2008-04-28 10:04:05

When they unhook the old generator they clip cables (kind of looks like little jumper cables) onto the patients leads and pace through the interogation device. The rep stands in the room and adjusts the settings during the procedure. They will then place the new generator, remove the cables, and make sure the new generator is working well before closing the pocket. If it is an ICD they will do 1 or 2 test shocks to make sure the ICD part is functioning properly.

rc5000

by peter - 2008-05-04 08:05:30

Hi there. I am in the same position as you with an AV node replacement. I understand your concerns, I worry about the same thing. My battery is not due for replacement for some years. I would greatly appreciate it if you would let us know precisely how the went about it as ive heard conflicting stories about this question. You could put up a posting on the site and or contact me at pcounsell@btinternet.com Cheers Peter

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