Table of Contents
What are the advantages and disadvantages of pacemaker?
By regulating the heart’s rhythm, a pacemaker can often eliminate the symptoms of bradycardia. This means individuals often have more energy and less shortness of breath. However, a pacemaker is not a cure. It will not prevent or stop heart disease, nor will it prevent heart attacks.
What are the disadvantages of an artificial pacemaker?
Pacemakers are generally safe; however, there may be few side effects present, which include:
- Infection at the pacemaker’s site.
- Swelling, bleeding or bruising at the pacemaker’s site.
- A collapsed lung.
- Damage to blood vessels or nerves near the pacemakers.
- Allergic reaction to dye or anesthesia used during the surgery.
What are the benefits of pacemakers?
A pacemaker can slow down the progression of heart failure. It may help keep you out of the hospital and help you live longer. If you get a pacemaker, you still need to take medicines for heart failure. You’ll also need to follow a healthy lifestyle to help treat heart failure.
What are the cons of a pacemaker?
Risks
- Infection near the site in the heart where the device is implanted.
- Swelling, bruising or bleeding at the pacemaker site, especially if you take blood thinners.
- Blood clots (thromboembolism) near the pacemaker site.
- Damage to blood vessels or nerves near the pacemaker.
- Collapsed lung (pneumothorax)
Does having a pacemaker shorten your life?
Having a pacemaker should not significantly alter or disrupt your life. As long as you follow a few simple precautions and follow your healthcare provider’s schedule for periodic follow-up, your pacemaker should not noticeably impact your lifestyle in any negative way.
Can a pacemaker damage your heart?
The Cleveland Clinic cardiologist who led the study concluded that physicians should switch off the pacemaker function on dual-chamber implantable defibrillators because it may knock the heart out of rhythm and hasten heart failure. The pacemaker uses a mild electrical impulse to continuously control the heartbeat.
Does a pacemaker affect blood pressure?
Permanent decrease of systolic blood pressure was observed only in small number (5.8%) of pacemaker patients.
What is the life expectancy after a pacemaker?
Baseline patient characteristics are summarized in Table 1: The median patient survival after pacemaker implantation was 101.9 months (approx. 8.5 years), at 5, 10, 15 and 20 years after implantation 65.6%, 44.8%, 30.8% and 21.4%, respectively, of patients were still alive.