When functioning properly, your heart acts as a pacemaker, keeping a natural rhythm. However, heart conditions such as arrhythmia and heart disease can cause the heart to beat out-of-time: too fast, too slow or out of rhythm. In this instance, an artificial pacemaker can be installed in order to help the heart stay in rhythm. The pacemaker is battery operated and is inserted through a small incision through the collarbone. The typical procedure takes about two hours, according to aurorahealthcare.org and requires stitches, which are removed in the week following surgery.
Excessive Bleeding
Because the pacemaker insertion procedure requires accessing the heart, damage can be inadvertently caused to the surrounding blood vessels. When this occurs, the vessels can bleed, which may require further surgery to repair leaky blood vessels.
Surgical Site Infection
A risk with any surgery that requires surgical incision, surgical site infections occur when bacteria invade an open surgical site, causing infection in the internal tissues of the body, or when the skin around the site itself becomes infected. Antibiotics are often given to patients post-surgery to prevent the risk of infection. However, if the patient shows symptoms such as redness, swelling around the surgical site or warmth at the site, he should seek medical attention.
Equipment Malfunction
While pacemakers are designed to keep the heart beating regularly, there is always a risk for malfunction; for example, the pacemaker may cause the heart to beat too fast or too slow or does not work at all. These occurrences often require a surgical revision to either remove the existing pacemaker or better temper it to the person's cardiac needs.
Heart Muscle Rupture
Insertion of a pacemaker can also result in a perforation of the heart muscle, which is known as myocardial perforation. These perforations can occur during surgery or can result following surgery due to a lead connecting to the pacemaker causing damage. Surgical measures to repair the damaged area as well as replace the lead may be necessary for patients with severe symptoms.
Pneumothorax
Also known as a collapsed lung, pneumothorax occurs when air becomes entrapped in the pleural space of the lung, which results in collapse. This can occur following pacemaker insertion due to damage in the lung or chest wall. If this occurs, insertion of a chest tube to re-inflate the lung may become necessary.
