how do i know

in the month of april 2012 i recieved an medtronic
addr01.after three week i keep getting shock down by my diaphram, one of my lead got this disconnected.it took them 3-4 hr to replaced the lead. my doctor didn;t ask me if i was left hand nor give me a choice on what side ,how do i find out if the doctor or liable,how do I know if they did what they were supposed to,

3 Comments

liability

by Tracey_E - 2012-05-28 10:05:38

I'm not a lawyer or a doctor, just layman with above average experience, but it doesn't sound like anything was done wrong.

It's typical to put it on the left side because it's the shortest distance to your heart when they thread the lead into the vein. There are a few drs that do it on the right if someone is left handed, but really, after you heal it makes no difference which side it's on so it's pretty rare to even ask. If I were left handed and asked, I would still choose left.

As for the lead shocking you then disconnecting, the shock was the first sign it was disconnected or in the process of coming loose. Leads come displaced less than 5% of the time so it's a very small percentage, but it's definitely not unheard of and it's no one's fault the great majority of the time. It can be the shape of the heart, the toughness of the heart wall, too much arm movement the first few days, lots of factors can make it difficult to place a lead and/or get it to stay. Even if all things are perfect, the heart is a working, moving muscle and it doesn't stay still for them to carefully place a lead. When you think about it, I'm amazed they stay in place as often as they do.

Get another opinion if it makes you feel better, but imo you had some bad luck, not a bad dr. Hope you are feeling better by now.

Getting a solid connection

by ElectricFrank - 2012-05-29 02:05:39

I like to look at it this way: Imagine the skill needed to thread a very small wire down a vein into the heart and then hit the desired spot on a heart wall that is wildly threshing about. All this while watching the process on a special x-ray machine.

At least your surgeon admitted there was a problem and fixed it instead of coming up with a bunch of wild tales, and "adjustments" to work around it.

frank

Also

by Peg541 - 2012-05-29 09:05:51

These seem to be the questions you ask before the surgery.

You know you're wired when...

You always have something close to your heart.

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