Open heart surgery in patients with pacemakers

Has anyone in this forum had an open heart surgery?

6 Comments

Yes I had open heart last November.

by asully - 2021-03-11 20:06:54

I also got an upgrade to my pacemaker at the same time.

Open heart surgery

by TAC - 2021-03-15 11:06:36

What type of open heart surgery did you have?

Open heart surgery

by TAC - 2021-03-15 11:27:27

I read that the electrocautery used in open heart surgery will damage the pacemaker. 

open heart surgery

by islandgirl - 2021-03-15 18:55:29

Leave the worry to the experts.  They know how to handle it.  I had open heart surgery (valve repair).  What they did with my ICD/PM was the least of my worries.  I think I was on an external PM/ICD for a few days.  

Ask the surgeon if you have questions.  

Mine was mitral valve replacement

by asully - 2021-03-17 00:05:28

They also added a lead and swapped my dual chamber pacemaker for crt at the same time, if they are putting u on bypass like I was it's no big deal.  The only thing that "annoyed" my surgeon was my atrial lead had been tunneled down my sternotomy line, so it was a pain in the butt for him when making the incision.  They will have a pacemaker tech in the or to turn you off and on or adjust any settings as needed.

Open heart surgery and pacemakers

by TAC - 2021-03-18 17:01:41

Thanks Islandgirl and asully. I entirely agree with both of you. The surgeon will tell if it can be done or not. The issue is an aortic valve insufficiency. My main concern is my age, 88. I will be seeing my surgeon next week.

You know you're wired when...

Your pacemaker receives radio frequencies.

Member Quotes

I'm 35 and got my pacemaker a little over a year ago. It definitely is not a burden to me. In fact, I have more energy (which my husband enjoys), can do more things with my kids and have weight because of having the energy.