Pacemaker Club: Gastric Pacemaker

Gastric Pacemaker

by Pakaroni
2018-09-21 18:17:30
Batteries & Leads
1374 views
3 comments

I have had a gastric pacemaker for 10 years now and at my last yearly dr. visit I was told that my battery is dead. Has anyone out there had their battery replaced? How intensive was the procedure? Any problems?

Thanks for your info

3 Comments

"Battery" replacement

by AgentX86 - 2018-09-21 22:08:02

They don't replace only the battery, rather the entire pacemaker. You'll get the latest and greatest. Assuming your leads are good, it's a very simple procedure. They just unzip the original incision, remove the leads from the old PM, move them to the new, and put everything back together. It's much simpler than the original procedure because no new leads are required. You'll heal even faster because the "pocket " scar tissue has already formed.

I didn't notice the word "gastric" but the process should be very similar.

Reply

by Pakaroni - 2018-09-21 22:14:06

Thank you AgentX86, that sounds simple!

it is

by dwelch - 2018-09-28 03:08:25

it is that simple the docs use terms like that. "replace the battery". its the whole unit. if the leads are fine and everything goes normally you can often go home the same day. and you get a new one with however many years newer tech in it, more logging, more features.

also would assume that a "gastric" would be similar to your initial procedure but ideally without new leads so a bit simpler than the first implant, and no matter where you have it you now have a formed pocket there for the new one to go into. ideally each new one is smaller than the prior due to new technology and fits nicely in that pocket.