Electrophysiology Study/Cardiac Ablation/ICD

[WantToGoNow]

My daughter will be having this procedure on Thursday. Has anyone had this that could tell me about it. How long is the recovery, pain, etc. Her Cardiologist didn't tell her much about it except it's a long procedure and she will be staying overnight. She does have two other heart conditions that this procedure will not help but hopefully it will help the frequent V-Tach before it causes too much damage ir worse.

 

[heidibilotti]

Can't answer you questions but I wish your daughter and family the best of luck. Let us know how she does. Prayers and hugs to your family

 

[MinnieMSue]

I am a cardiac nurse in Ohio actually The procedure is long because they have to find the actual pathways in the heart causing the V tach. They access one or usually both groins with catheters in the blood vessels after numbing them and usually give sedatives throughout the procedure for comfort. They go through these catheters to the heart to find these pathways that cause her VT and scar them so the electricity of the heart cannot run through them anymore and cause the VT. This is not painful but lying on the table is annoyingly long according to my patients. The recovery isn't bad at all. They pull the catheters afterward and stop any bleeding either by holding pressure or one of several types of "plugs". She will have to lie flat for a few hours or with the bed tilted up like a slide. She cannot bend at the waist so as to not bleed at those sites just for those few hours and then she may be sore for a few days and maybe bruised but should be fine.

 

[MinnieMSue]

Just saw she is getting an ICD. That is usually inserted just under the collarbone on the left chest. It will have a dressing for a day or so but we don't have staples or sutures or anything on the small incision. You have some arm movement restrictions on that side after discharge. The very small devise has wires that go to the heart muscle that take some time to firmly attach so she has to be careful to not lift her arm over her shoulder height which could pull them out. THey will go over all that with her before she goes home. During placement of the ICD they numb the area so she won't have much pain at first but she will start to get sore that day and should take some pain medication if she needs it. We usually prescribe percocet or something similar. Some patients have very little pain it just depends.

 

[WantToGoNow]

Thanks for the info. What part of Ohio are you? She had a Reveal monitor put in 3 years ago so I'm guessing if the ICD goes in that will come out since it's in that same spot. Bleeding is a worry of mine because she does have a bleeding disorder and doesn't clot well. And she is allergic to all the standard pain meds - Tylenol3 is about the strongest she can have.

 

[MinnieMSue]

Columbus Ohio, They don't have to put the ICD in that spot but they could take the monitor out but don't have to. T #3 is often strong enough for most people actually and many just take plain tylenol. They should be aware of the disorder and have a plan for it and should be able to use FFP or something to control it as necessary. We often have to do these things with these types of situations in our hospital.

 

[momof3poohlovers]

My daughter will be having this procedure on Thursday. Has anyone had this that could tell me about it. How long is the recovery, pain, etc. Her Cardiologist didn't tell her much about it except it's a long procedure and she will be staying overnight. She does have two other heart conditions that this procedure will not help but hopefully it will help the frequent V-Tach before it causes too much damage ir worse.

My son had the study and ablation done (without the ICD) last year when he was 13. He was put asleep during it but woke up when they were applying pressure to stop the bleeding and he said that part was more painful than anything. They went through only the left side of his groin but he had severe bruising, probably larger than the size of a grapefruit. He was sore for a few days but nothing too bad. Tylenol 3 was enough to control the pain for him. He wasn't allowed to do any kind of activity, basically was told to lay on the couch and that was it and had to miss school for a week because they didn't want him lifting anything, even a book for that week. They were concerned it would start bleeding again because I guess they had a hard time getting it to stop. I think this was the hardest part as he is a very active kid.

 

[disfan07]

I had an EP study and ablation done a few yars ago. For me, the went through both my groin and my neck.

I had a lot of pain afterwards....but I kind of caused some of it on my own. I don't wakeup well from anesthesia...at all. And I have trouble laying on my back because of breathing issues. So as I was waking up from anesthesia, I was fighting with the techs because I wanted the lay on my side which of course I couldn't do. So I was really fighting them and apparently they to close to having to restrain me but I started waking up more so it wasnt as much of an issue.
But because of all of that, it caused huge bruise in both entry points so I was out of commission longer than most. I was on Percocet for 48 hours after.

Otherwise, the procedure itself was uneventful. But my cardiologist LOVES to tell people the story of what happened after the procedure. Its been 3 1/2 years and she still loves to bring it up every once in a while.

 

[mhnewcomb]

I had an ablation (no ICD) at 40. The medication doesn't knock you out, but it does put you in sort of a twilight state...I SERIOUSLY wouldn't have cared if a Mack truck rolled through that room! It was a long procedure (according to my waiting husband), but it didn't feel long to me...the twilight, I guess. I wasn't exactly aware of what was going on, but I wasn't unaware either...truly, the medication is great stuff.

The biggest thing for me was how much BETTER I felt afterward. While they were rolling me to my room, I realized immediately just how much effort I had been spending trying to keep my heart rate straight. It was a WONDERFUL feeling to just be aware that I felt "normal" again. I kept forgetting that I couldn't bend at the waist afterward...the hubs ended up basically sitting on my thighs, as I was scaring him. Couldn't help it, though...I felt SO GREAT and the relief was palpable. The entry point was a little sore later in the evening, but as of the next morning, I was back to normal, only much much better.

I resisted that procedure out of fear...cried like a baby when they took me down, just knowing that something would go wrong and I'd never come back...but now I wish I had done it long before I did. It has completely changed my life, to be sure.

I sincerely hope that your daughter has as good an experience with this as I did. Please come back and update us?

 

[disfan07]

I had an ablation (no ICD) at 40. The medication doesn't knock you out, but it does put you in sort of a twilight state...I SERIOUSLY wouldn't have cared if a Mack truck rolled through that room! It was a long procedure (according to my waiting husband), but it didn't feel long to me...the twilight, I guess. I wasn't exactly aware of what was going on, but I wasn't unaware either...truly, the medication is great stuff.

The biggest thing for me was how much BETTER I felt afterward. While they were rolling me to my room, I realized immediately just how much effort I had been spending trying to keep my heart rate straight. It was a WONDERFUL feeling to just be aware that I felt "normal" again. I kept forgetting that I couldn't bend at the waist afterward...the hubs ended up basically sitting on my thighs, as I was scaring him. Couldn't help it, though...I felt SO GREAT and the relief was palpable. The entry point was a little sore later in the evening, but as of the next morning, I was back to normal, only much much better.

I resisted that procedure out of fear...cried like a baby when they took me down, just knowing that something would go wrong and I'd never come back...but now I wish I had done it long before I did. It has completely changed my life, to be sure.

I sincerely hope that your daughter has as good an experience with this as I did. Please come back and update us?

The medications depend on the person. For some reason I am very sensitive to all anesthesia meds. What they call "twigs light" sleep for me basically leaves me completely out and unaware. I can guarantee you that I have been completely unaware during my EP study, colonoscopies and endoscopy....all with twilight sedation. For my EP study I was not aware of anything until about an hour or so post procedure.

 

[WantToGoNow]

She had the ablation done last Thursday. They went in through both sides of her groin. They gave her drugs to where she was awake but not feeling anything. He burned 5 places in the A/V area but chose to not put in the ICD. She has since been experiencing a very low heartrate (50's) and has been very fatigued. She went back to work yesterday. Last night she noticed a hard knot in the side that had 3 catheters. She called the Cardiologist that did the procedure (he is 2.5 hours away) and he wanted her to go to her local Cardiologist to get it checked- problem was he couldn't get her in. So when she gets off of work she is going to the ER - was told Urgent Care would be of no help because she will need someone who knows what they are looking for as well as an ultrasound to make sure blood isnt leaking into her abdomen - she has been having abdominal pain since the procedure as well as chest pain - she was told the chest pain was just inflammation.

 

[MinnieMSue]

The chest pain is common and is probably inflamation. The groin lump could be bleeding and combined with the abdominal pain could make this more likely actually. They may do an ultrasound of the groin area and/or a CT scan of abdomin and maybe a blood draw to check her blood count. Often the bleeding stops on its own. The groin area soreness and risk of bleeding is often the biggest pain of the whole thing for most people. Most likely the bleeding has stopped since so much time has passed. If her blood count was really low most likely her heart rate would be faster (unless they ablated the heck out of her LOL). If I were a betting woman I would bet she will be fine mom. Of course I haven't seen her but just playing the odds.

 

[WantToGoNow]

She did see her local Cardiologist yesterday (she has 2 - 1 in Dayton and her main one in Toledo). The chest pain is inflammation and could last for a while. Her low heartrate should increase in time as well he thinks. The knot in the groin is a blood clot but he said that it's not anything to worry about and will eventually be reabsorbed by her body. She has had a few times where her heartrate will jump to 110 or so (which is still very slow compared to what it used to do) but he said thad should stop eventually as well. She goes back to see the Cardiologist that did the procedure mid-February.

Before the procedure her NCS and POTS wasn't as bad. Now she has had several occasions of passing out with the sudden blood pressure drops. She's not so sure the procedure was a good thing and thinks maybe it made things worse for the other two conditions which can't be fixed other than with meds to control somewhat.

She is really starting to worry about her stamina now when we go to Disney. She used an ECV this past trip (just a 3 day trip with her friend) and feels she probably will have to each time now. It's hard for someone in their late 20's who looks perfectly heathly on the outside because she is hurt by rude looks/comments. She wll want to walk as much as she can so that will leave me to ride her scooter so I could see comments as one person gets off and another gets on.

 

[MinnieMSue]

Oh, poor thing. Well, I guess when you go to Disney just ignore the other fools and have a good time which is easier said than done I know. I hope she feels better with time though.

 

[tinkerpea]

I just wanted to add that I know how your daughter feels when it comes to looking healthy but being sick and getting fed up of the looks!

Im 27 ( i look about 21 so thats even worse for me) I had major head surgery 7wks before our trip to Disney to remove a tumour that keeps coming back and eating at my mastoid and causing infections nr the lining of my brain,
it was my 3rd op but done as an emergency otherwise I would never have booked a 3wk trip with 3 children 10 and under in that condition lol.
My mum came with us but she had a knee op 6 months before we went and after that she bought an ECV so that she would be able to go, she enjoys walking but it gets painful after too long.

Anyways surgery recovery time for my Op is usually 6 months but surgeon agreed if i was careful and rested lots I could go! We decided that I would use the ECV when ever I needed as it was better then having hubby push me in a wheelchair,
We had a great time ( at a slower pace then usual) BUT the looks and comments I got a lot if was really hurtful, our oldest has Aspergers and although Disney is amazing for him he melts down from time to time well as we had a GAC for him people would give us filthy looks thinking it must be for me! Even worse if they saw me get off the ECV and my mum get on it, I by the end of the 3wks had learnt to pay no attention to them and so I hope your daughter can too, as these people are only wasting their Disney time and missing the magic worrying about something that doesn't concern them while you guys will be having a blast

I really hope things settle for your daughter being sick isn't easy. X