21 years
Are there any side effects of an internal pacemaker?
Nov 7, 2014
A number of complications of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICD) implant have been described. These need to be discussed with the treating cardiologist, and the patient needs to understand that no procedure or intervention is free of adverse events, and the pros and cons of the intervention need to be weighed in the process of making the therapeutic decision.
Acute surgical complications:
• Pain
• Bleeding
• Pneumothorax (if the covering of the lung is accidentally punctured, so air leaks out from the lungs into the chest cavity)
• Hemothorax (if the covering of the lung is accidentally punctured, so there is bleeding into the lungs)
• Cardiac perforation
Data coming from statistics of more than 350,000 ICD implantations revealed that 3.1% of patients experienced in-hospital adverse events and 1.2% experienced major adverse events
Subacute complications
• Pain
• Infection
• Pocket hematoma (bleeding)
• Poor wound healing
• Lead dislodgment: generally occurs within 2 days of device implantation pacer and may be seen on chest radiography
• Deep venous thrombosis
• Upper extremity swelling
Chronic complications:
• Device-related pain
• Lead fracture
• Inappropriate shocks
• Erosion of device through skin: a rare occurrence, but requires device replacement and systemic antibiotics.
Acute surgical complications:
• Pain
• Bleeding
• Pneumothorax (if the covering of the lung is accidentally punctured, so air leaks out from the lungs into the chest cavity)
• Hemothorax (if the covering of the lung is accidentally punctured, so there is bleeding into the lungs)
• Cardiac perforation
Data coming from statistics of more than 350,000 ICD implantations revealed that 3.1% of patients experienced in-hospital adverse events and 1.2% experienced major adverse events
Subacute complications
• Pain
• Infection
• Pocket hematoma (bleeding)
• Poor wound healing
• Lead dislodgment: generally occurs within 2 days of device implantation pacer and may be seen on chest radiography
• Deep venous thrombosis
• Upper extremity swelling
Chronic complications:
• Device-related pain
• Lead fracture
• Inappropriate shocks
• Erosion of device through skin: a rare occurrence, but requires device replacement and systemic antibiotics.
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