I'm 25 and I will have an SVT ablation in april. I only have SVT when I'm running or riding my bike (the problem is that I do a lot of sport and I had to join a semi-professional cycling team before my heart problems. Since then I do a lot less...)
My ablation is under local anesthesia (they dont want to sedate me because they are afraid to not succed to trigger the SVT.
- For people who had an ablation under local anesthesia, does it hurt ?
- How long does it take for you to resume running or cycling ?
Thanks a lot for your answers (sorry for my bad english, i'm in France)
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Irisshim
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Don't know if it will hurt, but be grateful they are doing it under local versus general. IMO the less general anesthesia you have, the better. Especially as we age.
I had one done under heavy sedation and didn’t know anything at all about it as I was out for the count. I had one with a small amount of sedation which I found uncomfortable as I was mentally expecting to be out for the count and wasn’t! I had one with GA. I was blissfully unaware of anything but took a long time to recover from anaesthetic. Finally I had to have an EP study and RF ablation for SVT and flutter. I was told upfront that for the majority of the time I would only have local and no sedation unless absolutely necessary. I knew I would have to draw on my knowledge of meditation techniques. I was prepared and can honestly say that it was all quite bearable even though it lasted for 4 hours. The worst part was the pressure I could feel at my groin but it was pressure and not pain. Right at the end when they knew what areas to zap , they gave me a quick hefty dose of sedative and I think I drifted off. All in all , this was the most bearable procedure I had and I even found it quite interesting and humbling listening to the team trying to do their very best for me.
The most important thing for me was being kept in the loop. If I know what is going to happen and why I can usually cope.
thanks a lot for sharing me your experience Jane ! 4 hours is quite a long time aha. I will prepare myself mentally. Actually I'm afraid that they can't trigger the svt so it must be the best thing to do it. just under local Have a good day,
Jane's procedure was not just SVT, but for flutter and afib. I think your SVT only procedure should be under an hour. Just ask the ep if you want to know.
Jim
Hi,
May be you should push yourself and do a long run, then do a long bike ride immediately, push your heart to breaking point, then present yourself. I'd imagine that your heart will then be whacko jacko.
The two sporting/athletic activities you refer to, have certainly anecdotally at least, been identified as the culprit behind AF and associated other heart problems - particularly if genetically you have a predisposition to heart issues and strokes.
TBH, why not try your hand at researching your heart issues online and in the context of the athletics you enjoy and which mean so much to you. It maybe that as you age you may have to consider reducing these activities and as you age significantly, say 25 years time, cut them out because they could become a major trigger in your heart issues.
As an aside, my daughter when in her late 20's and early 30's had pregnancies with her two children. On both occasions she developed Atrial fibrillation (AF). Once she stopped breeding the AF stopped. She now looks like a 'stick insect' and practices Thai Kick Boxing and has no AF. But, I wonder how she will be when she is 55 to 65 years old.
Congratulations on your English ..... it is a million light years better than my French. The best second language I can speak is Australian 😂😂😂😂
No doesn't hurt, just some strange hiccuppy spasms when they stimulate the vagal nerve and, for me, some discomfort in the face when they ablated, but overall it was fine. Not as bad as dentistry, I'm told 😂
Local anesthesia will sedate you and it was fine for me for the three ablations that I've had.
I think you're confusing local anesthesia with general anesthesia which requires intubation and you wouldn't be aware of any activity going on around you.
Last ablation I had was with local anesthesia. I heard talking but couldn't discern what was being said and I was aware of activity going on in the room.
I felt no pain or discomfort during the procedure. You'll be fine.
I don't run or cycle so ask your doctor when you can resume those activities.
Hi, I'm 66 and had an ablation for svt about 3 years ago. All good, no svt since. The reason I reply though is that my svt episodes were triggered by adrenaline (and stress) so if I overexerted myself cycling or had a near miss or similar, anything that got my body to pump adrenaline would trigger my svt. You say that you only get svt when running or cycling. Can you do these but with less effort or day I say do you actually need to do these at all? I know exercise is good for you but many would say that no svt is a price worth paying to not do these exercises. Assuming you have an ablation, mine was reasonably straightforward, the hardest part is lying still on your back for about 3 hours afterwards waiting for the hole in your groin to heal enough to let you stand. Good luck. Also, I found that when svt kicked in I could reset my hr by lying on my back for a minute or so. May be worth trying.
Hi ! Thanks for you answer. I assume that it's not good for me to continue cycling more than 15h per week yes so I really decreased the training and stop races. I wanted to make cycling my job so it's really hard to just stop it. That's why my EP wants to do an ablation. All of my friends are from cycling so the hardest part is psychological not physical at the moment 🥲
I would add that I’m a keen cyclist, riding 100 miles a week roughly, when the weather is better. My svt only became obvious when cycling with my garmin hrm recording the hr figures. The way my hr instantly shot up and later dropped instantly helped me to convince my cardiology team that it was svt. I still ride now but try to keep my max hr below 150 (I’m 66). I think your racing would trigger svt more than the training. It comes when you suddenly put on a spirt, sort of chasing someone or racing for the finish line. Also, I’d be a bit concerned that if an ablation stops the svt (which it should) continuing the racing may trigger another svt pathway. Only you can judge this risk.
I had a cryo-ablation in June last year at UHCW Coventry. I was in persistent AF when I had it. Any sedation they gave was very light because I was aware and listening all the way through the procedure. They did use a local anaesthetic on my groin. As mentioned elsewhere, the stimulation of the vagal nerve produced a strange tic in my body for a while.
It wasn't a pleasant experience but no worse than the dentist! After the ablation was done, they must have increased the sedation to perform a CardioVersion that put me back into NSR as I have no recollection of that happening.
Bonjour Iris - it could be that needing an ablation for SVT at your young age is an example of your heart trying to warn you that it is not happy with you putting it under strain with too much sporting activity. If you do not modify this you might be looking at other arrythmias like afib appearing when you are older. Resuming sport too quickly might undo the ablation.
Hello from sunny Lake Havasu Arizona. I had an ablation for SVT on January 10, 2023. Like you I was so stressed before hand that it would be painful. You will not feel any pain. I agree with Fazorboy that hardest part is laying on your back for 3 hours after. I was back to working out in a week with no restrictions. Best of luck and don’t worry. You’re young and you’ll have no issues.
You're English is great! Better than my french by far.I was about 3 months before I cycled but I did use an electric bike after three weeks on maximum assist. I then used less and less assist until I felt ready to cycle but I could have started earlier if I hadn't had the EBIKE.
Running took me about 5-6 months but I could have started a bit quicker but lacked confidence.
My ablation was last Friday. I just had a local anesthesia on the groin area at the beginning but no sedation or medication to relax. The surgeon was afraid of not being able to trigger the tachycardia. So for me it was very unpleasant at the beginning but not very painful. It took 2 hours to trigger the tachycardia, they had to speed up the heart with drug to trigger it. After that they started burning. Normally they should have given painkillers but during the first burn they did not work, it was very painful. So after that they increased the dose and I slept a little. Finally it wasn't so bad !
Thank you for all your messages The surgeon said I could get back on the bike slowly in two weeks. I'm so happy !
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Have a good day, 
Anesthesia, Ablation and Colonoscopy
2nd Ablation for Atrial Tachycardia
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Ablation under local anaesthetic - not what I was expecting 
