Has anyone had a family member that has had to get a heart defibulator put in and during surgery do they have to stop that person's heart???
My brother in law had his surgery and did not have his heart stopped during the process..however, they will be doing a procedure in a few weeks under supervision by many staff members of the medical field to see if the def will work properly if he would need it now that it's in place. He is doing fine and has learned that he can't jump right back into doing things right after such a process and must follow doctor's orders. He's able to lift his arms shoulder high and still cannot be bumped on the left side nor can he lift things over maybe 5 lbs with that side or walk his dog holding the leash with that left still yet at this point 5/29/08. Thanks to those of you for your advise and experience also for your prayers, I am a big believer that prayer can help.I have learned much and have tried to be supportive to my sister and her children as I am able to do so. Again, thanks for sharing.
Yeah, my dad. Back in the late 90's. He's fine. Needs a new battery every so often, but other than that, no problems.
My Mom had a one placed a few years back, there weren't any issues with it until a subsequent surgery. One of the leads apparently had a short in it (from the surgery) and needed to be replaced. She was due for the battery change in June, discussion of replacement due to the recall was going, sadly she passed away in February from multiple organ failure.
I'm unsure if they stopped her heart to place the device.
I don't know if they stopped my dad's heart but he has done very well with his defibrillator. My concern though, occurred when a "recall" was issued and we had to make a decision to have it replaced or not. He chose not to as the risk was minimal and his age.
Cathy
Yes. Both of my grandparents. Just a warning- it is really hard to see them after surgery- just prepare yourself, it's hard to see them all hooked up to the tubes and stuff. Good luck.
Hi, L.. I'm a physician assistant. When I was training, I spent a couple of weeks with an electrophysiologist and saw this procedure several times. When an internal defibrillator is implanted, they do have to induce an abnormal heart rhythm (ventricular fibrillation) a few times, for several seconds, to test the device. The heart doesn't stop beating, but it beats so quickly and irregularly that it cannot pump blood around the body effectively. The device then detects this abnormal rhythm and shocks the heart back to a normal one before any damage is done. Remember that the OR is a controlled environment...and that the reason the doctor recommended the device to begin with is to prevent cardiac arrest and sudden death from this very same abnormal rhythm. That said, the patient should talk to his or her doctor about specific risk of complications and anticipated benefits. Hope this helps.
I work in the medical field. Our standard practice is to test the ICD (implantable cardioverter defibrillator) once implanted to insure it is capable of stopping an irregular heart rhythm. In order to do so, the physician will cause the patient's heart to go into one of these irregular heart rhythms (ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation) and then use the newly implantable defibrillator to stop it by delivering a shock. This is done in a very controlled environment, and if need be a back up external defibrillator is in place. This process is necessary as it is important for the ICD to be able to recognize the rhythm and then helps the physician know how much energy the ICD will require to deliver a shock capable of stopping a potentially deadly heart rhythm. The patient's heart is not stopped. Also the patient is usually sedated so he or she will not likely remember this procedure. Hope this information is helpful.
The answer to your question is "NO" they do not stop the person's heart. So, do not worry about that. I wish your family member well.
K.
The MOM Team
www.enahcneyourlifeonline.com
I have worked in an EP lab and I now prep and recover patients that undergo such procedures for Automatic Internal Cardiac Defibrilators (AICD). It is truly a simple process and not even considered surgery. As the PA also answered, after the device is placed, the heart is induced into a rhythm (by the pacemaker rep via the sensor wires). This is a rhythm that the device should shock the heart out of. This is just a test to make sure everything looks good before the pt is sewn up. If it so happens that the device does not go off or too slow or not enough shock for that particular person (bigger people need more shock) it is then that things are fixed up and the pt would be tested again to get it right.
So, if it fails the first time, the patient is already hooked up to external pads that shock the heart when needed. Like the PA said, this is a very controled environment. You have a Dr, 2 or 3 nurses, a tech and a pacer rep.
I don't know what one lady was talking about waking up with tubes etc...Barring any majorly drastic complications, the patient usually wakes up and wants to start eating within the hour. They only have one IV and sometimes kept on oxygen that's all. The pateints in my hospital stay one night and the only side effect is usually briusing/soreness in a day or so at the insertion site. Their main limitations will be limiting their use of the affected arm for a few weeks so as not to loosen the wires in the heart as they grow into the muscle. If they ever feel a shock by the AICD once they are home, they are to report it to their Cardiologist or EP Dr. I hope this helps. PLease ask your Dr, nurse or PA if you have any further questions or concerns, they should be more than happy to give you further education.
