Pace Wires

[Sully77]

I've got a question for you guys. Did anyone have the pace wires ( defib wires ) left inside them after surgery? I've lost 45 pounds since the opperation and these wires are actually trying to pierce my skin just below my rib cage. I can run my fingers over my skin and actually feel these wires and the area is very sensitive. My surgeon was dumbfounded as to why they left these in there.

Any help you guys can give me would be greatly appreciated.

 

[wlaldridge]

I can tell you that they intendened to leave my wires in place. The PA that came to snip them off said "oops" and since he accidentally "pulled" one he decided to pull all four.

It is not clear to me, why they were going to leave them unless they thought my little event with a-fib might need the pacer again.

Don't know how well they are "anchored" if the guy could dislodge and "pull" it by accident?

 

[Sully77]

My doctor said to pull them out now would cause alot more bleeding around my heart, so they must be anchored pretty well.

Thanks Bill

 

[EVELYN]

Hi Sully77....My husband, Tyce, had AVR surgery 6/26/02. When the day came for him to have his wires removed, the PA who did it never came to see him. The next day the Dr.s decided to release him, so they just snipped them off and said "DON'T WORRY ABOUT THEM!!!" So we don't. Our regular cardio said that happens more and more and wasn't worried, so neither were we. Have had no problem for 4 months---he's 175-180 lbs. Hope that's a help.

Evelyn

 

[Creed3]

My Pace Wires were also snipped off and not completely removed. They told me that it really didn't matter whether you snipped them off or pulled them out. They told me not to worry about them and that they shouldn't cause me any problem. I don't even think about them. It sounds like you are having some discomfort. I know right after my surgery, I felt a little something that I thought was where they snipped the wire, but it ended up being the surgical stitches inside where they tied off the end. They are supposed to eventually go away. Good Luck with everything and take care!

Creed3

 

[ILoVeNY25]

Hi Sully,
Just wanted to share my experience, I had my pacing wires pulled out the day before I left the hospital. I did not have them snipped like others here. They were pulled out, All 16 of them. I also have to share that it was not a pleasant experience of having them yanked out. Ouch! Just think about it makes me feel weird. That's the only way I can explain it is that it's a very weird feeling. I think the removing of the chest tube was less painful but I was more heavily drugged then. Good luck with the discomfort, Hope you get it resolved soon.

 

[Johnny Stephens]

My wires were pulled 2 days before I went home. While it didn't hurt, it did feel weird. Kind of a squirmy, tickling sensation. They told me beforehand that they never have any problems resulting from pulling the wires.

I went into afib 10 minutes later. They insisted it was a coincidence.

 

[Gnusgal]

I also had mine pulled. I only had one that was stitched to my skin, and one stitched to my heart. When the nurse came in to pull them she said she had been told it "feels like a pinch." Boy was she told wrong! I agree with Nicole. It is definately a VERY WIERD feeling. My husband now likes to say that if anyone ever says something about "tugging on your heartstrings" I can with confidence say "Nope. Doesn't feel like that at all!" It really is a difficult sensation to describe.

 

[joy]

When I had my wires pulled, they told me to bear down, like I was pushing a baby out, and I did, and then they pulled them out. If they bother you, ask your surgeon about them. I was heavily drugged the whole time I was in the hospital, all three times! I still have the marks. I only had three pace wires, though. My drainage tube tickled when it came out. I still don't remember them putting a stitch in there, but they did. I kept playing with it, because it felt funny to have a stitch there. good luck!

 

[tlhudson]

The nieve one here!

Will I have these PACE Wires to worry about with my impending Mitral Repair?

Sorry to butt in, however I was told that ya'all were a mouthy bunch and to feel free, so pardon me. Knowledge can't hurt!

 

[tlhudson]

I hope I did not offend anyone by saying "mouthy bunch" in my prior post, was a reference I received in good humor from one of you regarding a post of my own!

I didn't mean any ill by it! Sorry if I did offend anyone.

 

[Nancy]

I think I'm the one who mentioned that we are a "mouthy" bunch who like to yak it up with each other and especially newbies. And I don't ever mean that in the pejorative sense. We do love to talk a lot. Just go away for a few days and do a search on new posts. You'll be amazed at how much yakking has gone on while you were away.

 

[wlaldridge]

It seems like they routinely place wires for external pacemakers at the time of OHS (open heart surgery). It is really a "no big deal" Of all the things we worry about, those tiny pacer wires are nothing, but handy if you need to be paced, as many do while in the hospital.

The "bear down" instruction or "take a deep breath and don't let it out till I tell you to" are more to take the patient's mind off what is going on than to assist the procecdure in any meaningful way.

They do the same thing when they pull the drainage tube and the Foley cathether. All pretty minor deals, but don't watch or try to flinch away from it.

Bill

 

[Bill Hall]

Jay - I had an external pacer for a week after surgery. They left the wires in because they were afraid of bleeding around the heart. I was on coumadin. No problem since.

 

[Suzanne Alami]

My mother-in-law recently a had mitral valve repair and the doctor put in the pace wires right after finishing the repair to monitor the heart in ICU. They pulled the wires out the day she went into the step-down unit. She had been on Heparin intravenously for quite some time before the surgery and after and didn't have any complications with bleeding.

Good luck with your repair.

 

[Marty]

No wires?

No wires?

I am four years one month and seven days out from mitral valve replacement. I feel short changed. I had chest tubes but no wires.

 

[Gail in Ca]

In '89, I had no wire attached to my heart. But, in '00, I had this wire and asked what it was.
The nurse said it was stiched to my heart in case it needed to be zapped. It was just pulled out a day before I went home and I agree it was a weird feeling to have that wire just pulled out.
Of course I also felt that having the breathing tube pulled out when fully conscious was like delivering the placenta thru my mouth! Ugh!! Did I gross anyone out with that one?
Gail