Non Healing Pacemaker Wound

Hi everyone,

I wonder if anyone ever had any experience with their pacemaker wound taking an extremely long period of time to close up and heal.
 

I had my first pacemaker implanted when I was 10 years due to frequent syncopal attack after which I diagnosed with complete heart block. I had VSD repair when I was 4 years old which the cardiologist is likely a complication following the initial open heart surgery. Fast forward, I am 30 years old now with no regular medications and no other medical conditions. I had my 2nd box change around 6 months ago. As it is the 3rd time, the same site is being cut, I have developed mild to moderate scar tissue as evident by keloid tissue over my skin. The 2nd box change took around 4 months to heal and there's still 2x2cm open wound which is just not granulating. Given the case, my cardiologist thinks it is likely to due to poor healing of the overlying scar tissue. 

So the cardiologist decided to do a wound revision surgery to excise all the scar tissue and bring the healthy skin margins together. I have had the wound revision surgery done about 4 weeks ago. Again the same area where there was a gaping wound is healing significantly slower compared to the rest of the wound.

Has anyone who had multiple box changed in the past experienced similar issues? I am extremely concerned if there's any underlying collections underneath the wound (not visible to naked eye) that might be causing such poor wound healing?

4 Comments

something isn't right

by Tracey_E - 2021-08-30 14:17:07

Have you had other bloodwork to see if something else is going on that affects healing? Perhaps consult with a wound care specialist? 

I'm on #5. I had scar tissue excised at the same time I got #4 but it was because it was getting achy not because it wasn't healing. I have two scars that have been opened multiple times and they are thick, but didn't take extra long to heal. 

Good luck! Stay on top of it, open can lead to infection. You don't want to go down that road. 

Specialist

by Persephone - 2021-08-30 16:46:05

Yes - it seems appropriate to consult a specialist at this point.  You may want to consider taking photos to document the issue if you're not already doing that.

Delayed wound closure

by Julros - 2021-08-31 11:50:23

I agree with consulting a specialist such as a plastic surgeon and or a wound care specialist. An open wound puts you at risk for a deeper infection. Best wishes. 

INCISION HEALING SLOWLY

by SicSinusCid - 2021-09-03 18:18:44


I hate to hear you're having this problem, but I agree with other responses that this may be due to something totally unrelated.  There could be some new health issue that you are not aware of yet.  For example, an previsouly undiagnosed autoimmune issue could well delay healing.  You may want to ask either your family doctor or specialist to run a couple of special blood tests.

 

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