Pacemakers

Finding out your heart has a problem keeping on beat brings lots of questions and concerns. You're worried about what it means for your future. And you want to know what treatments work best. A pacemaker is a kind of heart device that helps your heart stay on rhythm. It lives close to your heart and is puit in using a minor surgery. 

You're usually need a pacemaker if you have an abnormally slow heart rate with these symptoms:

  • Fatigue
  • Shortness of breath
  • Lightheadedness
  • Passing out

This slow heart rate can come from a problem with your heart's sinus node (its natural pacemaker). You may also have problems with how electrical signals travel through other parts of the heart.

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How We Implant a Pacemaker

  • Your doctor implants a pacemaker under the skin in the upper part of your chest, near your left shoulder. 
  • Before the procedure, your doctor cleans the area to prevent infection. 
  • You're given medicine to go to sleep (sedated) and you'll stay asleep through the procedure. 
  • We numb the skin below your collarbone and a small cut (called an incision) is made (about 1.5 inches long). 
  • A space is made beneath the skin for the pacemaker, which is about the size of a half-dollar. 
  • Next, one or more wires, or leads, are put into a vein beneath your collarbone. This vein connects with the heart and allows the wire(s) to be passed into your heart. 
  • Using these wires, the pacemaker monitors your heart’s electrical system and speeds it up (stimulates it) if the heart rate becomes too slow. 
  • The wires are then connected to the pacemaker and it is placed under the skin. 
  • Your doctor closes the incision with sutures. 
  • After we insert your pacemaker, you'll have to stay overnight for monitoring. 
  • The following day, we'll take an X-ray of your chest.

Recovery

Your doctor may give you a list of restrictions after you've gotten your pacemaker, including:

  • Temporarily, no reaching overhead with the arm on the same side as the pacemaker
  • Keeping the incision dry for 48 hours 
  • Avoiding heavy lifting for 2 months

We'll ask you to return to the clinic 2 weeks after pacemaker placement so we can check the incision and the pacemaker. After that, we usually check the device every 3 months, either in the clinic or remotely by telephone or internet.