First ablation

[Edders]

I am waiting for a ablation with the balloon and freezing my heart ..can you have the procedure by local anaesthetic?

[BobD Volunteer]

Many EPs use sedation for Cryo-ablations yes. They use a local for the entry site in your groin and since there are no nerves in veins you won't feel the catheter going through them to your heart. I always had GA myself but people do say that they had some slight pain during the freezes but that pain relief was delivered swiftly if you told them.

Make sure you read the two fact sheets preparing for and recovering from ablation

heartrhythmalliance.org/res...

heartrhythmalliance.org/res...

[Edders in reply to BobD]

Thank you I will read the link

[pottypete1]

They will use local anaesthetic for the entry site of the catheter.

You will no doubt be offered sedation and I think it is most unlikely that they will not give sedation. Many prefer this option.

For me the preferred option was General Anaesthetic.

Pete

[Edders in reply to pottypete1]

I was hoping to go down the local route thank you

[Maisiemay13]

I had a local and sedation with mine it was fine no pain

[Alessa69]

I had my 1st ablation last year, I had sedation and didn’t know a thing about it ! In 2018 I’d had EP studies to investigate & Id asked for sedation as I was a total wimp about it all! I was very thankful that I’d done that as when working on me, I went into spontaneous AF , and they had to Cardiovert me 3 times , I was away with the fairies & so knew nothing about it. It’s so important to Talk to to your medical team about your concerns . Goops Luck with all

[Hidden]

I had local / sedation, it was fine! Good luck

[KMRobbo]

For my PVI cryoablation I had local on the groin entry, never felt a thing. The catheter was in my heart before I realised that they had started!I had mild sedation through the left arm , and I just had the minimum ( no idea what that is). You can ask to increase the sedation , but it was not necessary. I was wide awake and was watching what was going on on the screen.

The pain on the cryo PVI is not felt in the chest . It is EXACTLY like the brain freeze you get when you bite into a cold ice cream on a hot day. It's in your head/behind your eyes. It lasts a bit longer , but that's it , four times, one for each pulmonary vein. There is quite a time between each of the 4 , as they have to move, reposition and check the catheter balloon, so it's not even an onslaught of brain freeze.

The only other pain I got was after the last one. Is is close to your oesophagus, so I did get a pain like if you swallow a big mouthful of some thing too dry and it gets stuck halfway down. However a sip of water removed most of that, and and hour later I was eating chicken and stuffing sandwiches in the recovery room without any effort!

Best wishes for your cryo.

[marcyh in reply to KMRobbo]

Watching it on the screen sounds really interesting. So with sedation do you not need to be intubated? That would be a good thing. I came back last with with a sore throat and some damage to my lips. And a rough time coming out of the general anesthetic. It may have been too much for me.

[KMRobbo in reply to marcyh]

I was not intubated, and I did not have a TOE either as I had ben on A/C for 25 days prior

[marcyh in reply to KMRobbo]

Sorry, what is A/C and a TOE?

[Edders in reply to marcyh]

I was wondering the same

[KMRobbo in reply to marcyh]

A/C is anti coagulation. Pradaxa in my case.TOE is a trans oesophagal echocardiogram. If they are unsure if you have any blood clots in your atrium, because you have had a lot of Afib, you have to swallow such a device so it can scan your atria for clots. I had had little afib since well before the ablation event and had 25 days on A/C so that was never considered for me.

[Edders in reply to KMRobbo]

Oh my goodness that’s sounds horrendous

[KMRobbo in reply to Edders]

I have never had to to do that in my ablations so I cannot comment as I am not medically trained. I suspect that if that was required then that would be under a GA. It is a question for your EP.

[marcyh in reply to KMRobbo]

Thanks, of course. I didn't think of the British spelling. As far as I know, my intubation included a scope to monitor the lungs for clots. Atria too? Not sure if mine was considered "a lot" of AF or not.

[KMRobbo in reply to marcyh]

I am sorry but am not medically trained and that is beyond my personal experience with my ablations. I believe you will need to put those questions to your EP.

[Edders in reply to KMRobbo]

Thank you this has been so helpful

[Edders in reply to KMRobbo]

Thank you

[Edders]

Thank you for the replies I am so grateful and it has made me decide to go for the local anaesthetic...

[wilsond]

I will get no choice at my hospital,sedation and local . Think it depends on loxsl practice.x

[Challiefan]

Edders, there are always a range of outcomes. I've had 2 ablations - both times local and sedation. First time, the pain was pretty bad. The second time it was close to excruciating. Both times I asked for more sedation which knocked me out - thankfully.

I'm telling you this because I wouldn't want you to get the impression that it's always plain sailing. Things can happen.

Would I have it done again with a local and sedation if needed? You bet I would - despite the pain.

[Edders in reply to Challiefan]

Oh that’s put a different perspective on it