Redo surgery after permanent pacemaker implantation: performance indicator of surgical techniques and pacing technology.
BACKGROUND
The incidence of permanent pacemaker-related complications is reducing due to advancement of technology and increasing operator experience. There are only few series from India reporting the annual complication rates from a single center over the years. This is a series of 782 pacemakers implanted over 20 years in a secondary healthcare set-up.


RESULTS
Eighty-two patients underwent redo surgery, either for a procedure-related complication (n=34) or for replacement of a malfunctioning/end-of-life pacemaker (n=48). Through critical analysis and corrective measures, all the procedural complications were reduced to less than 4% of the annual implantations. The introduction of a pacemaker follow-up clinic contributed to reducing the rate of elective replacement for battery depletion from 19.17% of the implanted VVI pacemakers to 0.63%.


CONCLUSIONS
Despite being a low-volume center, with less than 100 pacemakers implanted annually, the performance of our pacing practice has shown continuous improvement.
Bharat
Vijaya
V
Department of Cardiology, Tata Main Hospital, Jamshedpur. vbharat@satyam.net.in
D002304:Cardiac Pacing, Artificial; D004567:Electrodes, Implanted; D006801:Humans; D010138:Pacemaker, Artificial; D012086:Reoperation