surgery at a stand alone surgery center

Surgery at a stand alone surgery center

by Gemita - 2021-10-31 07:07:25

New to Pace:  care to share the nature of the surgery you need at the "stand alone surgery centre"?  That might help, although your comment about "I know I need the Medtronic rep there, to be put in safe mode and out" suggests to me that it might be safer to have any ?day surgery? done at a main hospital where you know they will have full facilities and specialist help available to fall back on if your procedure takes longer or becomes more complicated than expected.

hernia repair

by new to pace.... - 2021-10-31 07:19:23

might need a umbical hernia repaired, thinking the mesh repair might have popped off.  will know after the CT scan.

new to pace

Main hospital New to Pace

by Gemita - 2021-10-31 07:21:45

would be the safest bet in my opinion.  Good luck and I hope you are not in too much discomfort.

don't think so

by Tracey_E - 2021-10-31 10:00:01

Unless things are changing, we have to be in the hospital for any surgical procedure involving anesthesia. The stand along surgery centers are not prepared to deal with a pacer. 

Outpatient Surgery

by AgentX86 - 2021-10-31 10:23:14

I had outpatient surgery on my arm recently. They required a clearance from my cardiologist and neurologist but they would have been required for inpatient surgery too.  My neurologist had some conditions but other than that there was no problem.

A CT scan doesn't require any special care, like an MRI does.

Guess It Depends on the Surgery

by Marybird - 2021-10-31 13:55:44

I had carpal tunnel surgery several months after I broke my wrist in 2021, it was a quick surgery done in a stand alone outpatient surgery center.  They didn't ask for any clearances, and didn't make any provisions for the care and feeding of a pacemaker during surgery. It was done under conscious ( or in my case, unconscious sedation.). I don't think any extra provisions were needed since the operative site was far from my pacemaker ( right wrist, extended out onto an " armholder" kind of thing, and I doubt they used any kind of cauterizing type of equipment. For carpal tunnel surgery, as I read, they use a tourniquet on the upper arm to cut off the blood supply while they operate, and do it quickly. 

For surgeries involving the abdomen or in areas closer to the cardiac device site, and/or when they anticipate using equipment that might interfere with the device, I'm sure they would at least have a pacemaker technician on hand to take care of it. They do have advanced life support measures in the surgery centers around here ( required by state and federal laws), so it's possible that the preference for a hospital setting for surgeries in people with pacemakers may depend on 1) the general health of the patient, 2) the convenience for the operating surgeon and/or availability of the pacer tech. 

stand alone surgery centers

by new to pace.... - 2021-10-31 14:08:29

thanks for you responses.  will not know where or even when until i see the dr. on now scheduled for Nov 18. with the Ct Nov 10.

new to pace