Preparing for Your Visit

Registration

• Patients are pre-registered and the test takes place in the Catheterization Lab on Phippen 5.

About the Defibrillator/Pacemaker implant procedure

• Have a light meal the night before and don’t eat or drink anything after midnight.
• The complete procedure may take about two to three hours.
• You will stay overnight in the hospital for observation.
• You will need to designate a driver to bring you home the next morning.
• During the procedure your heart rate, blood pressure and breathing will be monitored. Local anesthesia and medication will be given to help you relax.
• A small incision will be made beneath your collarbone, and a pacemaker or ICD will be inserted through the incision.
• A pacemaker is a small, battery-operated device that sends electrical impulses to your heart. It helps your heart maintain a normal heartbeat. An internal cardiac defibrillator, or ICD, is also small, battery-operated device that sends electrical impulses that correct an abnormal heartbeat.
• The incision will be closed with stitches
• A week after surgery the stitches will be removed.

Locations and directions

Catheterization Lab, Phippen 5, Salem Hospital