cardiac perforation

My mom is 83. Her doc told her she needed a pacemaker for a slow heartbeat. She rec'd her pacemaker dec '08.
She told me the last thing she heard in the OR was the nurse saying the doc nicked her heart.
She stayed in the cicu for a few days. She spent a couple of more days in a reg room.
They sent her home, and she has been in and out of the hospital ever since. She has fluids build up in her chest.
She has always been healthy until this and I am wondering if anyone has had this happened to them or a family member.
Please give me advise. I want her to feel better, that is why she got the pacemaker. She feels worse than before it was implanted.

4 Comments

Sorry about your mom!

by BillMFl - 2009-01-27 07:01:54

Unfortunately surgery carries risk. I got a punctured lung during my first pm surgery. When I began waking up in my room, I could hardly breath and lots of chest pain. They quickly brought in a portable Xray machine and it showed a collapsed lung. The dam doc rolled me onto my side and with no pain killer proceded to jab a sharp instrument between my ribs and insert a tube. Lots of fun. Couple days later he yanked the tube out. Again nothing for pain. So yes, they do make mistakes. If you read the fine print on her release form, it warns of the possibilty of perforations, etc. Remember, they are looking at an image on a screen, not the actual insides of the patient so they can't be 100% certain when they probe. And the older the patient, the greater the risks.

Me Too!

by boatman50 - 2009-01-27 09:01:03

I was 49 when I had my pm put in as an emergency. I was sent home the next day and felt ok. 2 days later I was having sharp pains down my arm and between my shoulder blades. Back into the hospital and after many tests it was determined that one of the leads had penatrated the heart. Blood was leaking around the heart but they could not fix it in that hospital. Into NYC and a specialist. I would say that you should get an EP involved and get their opinion as to how to proceed.

it's a risk

by Tracey_E - 2009-01-27 09:01:32

It's rare, but it happens sometimes. They way the pm leads work is they are screwed in or anchored with a barb into the heart muscle, depending on which type of lead they use- but they're all anchored to the heart one way or the other. It doesn't necessarily mean they were negligent or did anything wrong- sometimes the heart wall is thin, sometimes they can't get it to stay in place. I'd get another opinion to see what can be done to help her, if what happened was due to negligence or just one of those things beyond anyone's control.

It hasn't been that long, she should have every hope of recovering completely. Without complications, it takes 4-6 weeks or longer to recover, given her age and the nick it's going to take her a while longer. Once she gets over this hurdle, the faster heart rate should give her more energy than she had before and overall help her health. A low hr starves our organs of oxygen. I hope she's back to her old self (or better!) soon.

It takes skill

by ElectricFrank - 2009-01-27 10:01:53

It amazes me that the surgeon can hit a spot on the heart wall when it is jumping around on each beat.

This is why we need to find a cardiologist that has a lot of experience in doing the procedure. Unfortunately, the ones that are the best have the worse bedside manners. This is one of those situations where I would rather have a very skilled jerk than the alternative.

Someone like your mom needs an advocate to handle the interactions with the doc. Remember though that the advocate is no help if they are as shook up as the patient.

frank

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You have a maintenance schedule just like your car.

Member Quotes

My eight year old son had a pacemaker since he was 6 months old. He does very well, plays soccer, baseball, and rides his bike. I am so glad he is not ashamed of his pacemaker. He will proudly show his "battery" to anyone.