Sitting up in my hospital bed after a Pulsed Field Ablation. It is about 90 minutes since leaving the theatre surgery. Only discomforts are slight sensation at entry point in groin and a mild sore throat.
Will give an update once I have had a discussion with the surgeon later today.
Surgeon visited, it is now 4 hours post surgery. Ablated all 4 pulmonary veins in the left atrium. Ablation took 1 hour and 15 minutes, surgeon says it was an easy one.
I am to keep taking my low dose of meds for 1 month then stop, 50 mg Flecainide and 50mg of Diltiazem morning and night. The Eliquis blood thinner for 2 months.
I will occasionally use my 24 hour Vellue monitor post surgery ,as well as when I wean off the meds to record any blips.
For anyone thinking about a Pulsed Field ablation is was a overall a good experience, I think researching and watching videos of how PFA is done beforehand makes it almost pleasurable on the day.
I could have stayed on medication rather than have a PFA, I agreed with my EP that AF should be ablated as early as possible for the best long term results.
Thank you to everyone who contributes on this forum, it has been a terrific resource during my AF journey.
P.S, Hospital food is crap!
Written by
OzRob
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I've had a cryo ablation of all 4 PV's in Sept 2022. I then had a touch up RF ablation 4 months ago, back in July 2024. Both at Waikato Hospital (I'm in the Taranaki region), and on the public system. I didn't mind the wait time, gave me time to get my head around it. Since the touch up, so far so good, I'm AF free, and I've stopped the meds (stopped both Bisop and Flec). The EP who did the touch up found a PV that hadn't been done properly first time, so he was confident he got it. Cheers Blake
Thanks for the clarification Blake. Its good to know we can still get thongs like this done in our litle country.. i will have to look your repairs up.. i cant take the drugs other effects any longer. Have been through all of them virtually. On the rivaroxaban anticoagulant ok. On metoprolol which is a beta blocker. Im putting up with a lot of side effects from it . I was supposed to have had the ablation 3 yrs ago after the pacemaker was put in bit then maybe it was the covid thing that stopped things. I see a privaye specialist tomorrow hoping to get things going. I cant have an af ablation due to my left atrium being so large so the team in auckla d recommended a pace and ablate. I got the fancy dual chamber pacemaker but not the av node ablation which is not reversible but at 82 and an other wise healthy ex lifetime competitive club cyclist i now just want it done.All the best. Colin from Kerikeri in Northland
Please give us a running commentary on your recovery. Your experience will help lots of us who may have to follow you. Wishing you well with lots of TLC and rest.
Did they use GA or sedation? I like the fact that they did it in an hour and 15 minutes..A few Cryo guys can match that, but most will take longer. One RF guy I spoke to said 4-6 hours. I said no thank you! Ended up finding a Cryo guy because no PFA at the time.
GA and overnight in the hospital. The overnight is really for keeping an eye on the entry wounds, of which I had two each side of my groin. I had a sore throat from being intubated, I then coughed about 5 hours post ablation and the right groin entry point split and I started to bleed out a bit. They put pressure on it for 5 minutes, redressed it and all is now good. So don't cough or sneeze after an ablation!
I tried to stay away from GA, but at only 1.5 hours under, probably less side effects than the extra time many of us spend under heavy sedation with propofol. Bleeding at the groin is pretty common, happened to me. Got real ugly looking for a while, but it completely heals pretty soon.
...Then when I was recovering at home, my cat (who is not normally a lap-sitter) decided to jump up right onto the top of my leg and sit on the wound. Obviously she could smell blood, but I'm not quite sure if she was staking me out for prey or whether she was trying to heal me.
Thanks Rob. All the best and im looking forward to hearing more from you⁸.Im 82 so some 20 yr diff. I was supposed to be done 2 yrs ago. My visit to my specialist is tomorrow morning at 10.30. I have written all the reasons why i should have the ablation so will take that with me.
thank you for your post. Congratulations After 23 years with a very mild AFib burden things started to deteriorate two years ago. I was out on Multaq which helped. Ablation was discussed but EP did not think it was appropriate given co-morbidities and I was 82 years old.
Last year I was given a pacemaker for sick sinus syndrome and things got a lot better. I had a Covid booster in September this year and AFib episodes increased significantly plus lots of ectopics.
I had an Echocardiogram last week and a visit to my EP. He said he would now strongly recommend a Pulse Field Ablation. I pointed out I am 83 now but it did not worry him. He has done 400 PFA’s with great success. The alternative was to ablate the sinus node as I already have a pacemaker.
I have decided to go for the PFA and will have it on 2 January. I will let you know how I get on.
Where are you having the PFA? I had mine at Blackrock Clinic and it was really impressive and successful (so far). Just coming up to one year clear of AF.
Hi. Yes mine is Blackrock Clinic also. My EP is Daniel O’Hare. Glad it has worked out for you so far. If I get even a couple of years AF free it will be worth it. I can always have a sinus node ablation if necessary. As I am in the winter of my discontent as the Bard says that should see me though to the natural end.
Hi. Well you're in great hands at Blackrock. My recovery was very quick. I had no discomfort at all, just some mild bruising at the incision point and was out and about walking the dog (gently) after 3 days and back at work, desk-based, after a week. Only real side-effect was a little bit of fatigue in the afternoons. But honestly it couldn't have been smoother. My EP was Derek Crinion but they're all tremendous there. Relax.
Another "thank you" to you OzRob for that info. I am in Adelaide and booked for PF Ablation for Arial Fibrillation for 30th November. Had standard Ablation on 18th Sept. for Atrial Flutter and seems successful to date. Still on Amiodarone and Apixaban but expected to cease these after recovery from the next procedure. Regards, Lawrie
Glad thats been done and that you are relating it as a fairly positive experience which is always good to read for people waiting to have it done.....hopefully you will soon be home to some good home cooking and a good recovery. All the best xx
well done mate and good to hr it was a smooth process.
I’m currently on the med route all good for 10 months so not sure when to have ablation, I saw that yr EP said sooner better… what’s the rational behind that if AF situation is ok at the moment
My EP told me that even controlled by medication AF almost always progresses and then it becomes difficult to treat even with ablation. Glad I had mine now whilst still paroxysmal
I’m thinking same way now, I am hoping Imracor’s new MRI guided catheters continue to show success in Trials and will be available in the next 12 months. The idea is the visual of targets is far clearer and consequently less chance of needing a follow up ablation
I would be interested to see this too. My EP wanted to do my RF ablation under general anaesthetic as he said he could be more 'precise', unfortunately there was no anaesthetist available so I had to have sedation which wasn't pleasant and took a long time. I am hoping I don't need a follow up ablation. I haven't had any episodes that I am aware of since.
They are currently trying it out at John Hopkins in the US for Atrial Flutter. Apparently the images are live and as you’d imagine the view from MRI is much clearer
The best analogy is that you may have just the single spark plug in one of your atrial pulmonary veins when AF strikes, the meds are working fine controlling that single spark, then a second spark develops and the meds control it also. At some point you need to up the medicine dose as further sparks develop. Then you decide to ablate. That is how people treated AF.
My EP suggested it is better to stop the sparks early on, to halt all progression early on as it has a greater success rate.
I was also sitting on the fence until PFA came on the scene, RF and cryoablation had risks that concerned me. With PFA those risks have been removed.
That’s a good analogy, plenty of food for thought. I think I’ll go and see another EP. At the moment I feel great and I get the visual of the extra sparks and needing to increase dosage. At the moment I’m on as minimal as possible taking 20mg Flecainide morning and night and 10mg of metoprolol. The cardiologist thinks it’s just above homeopathic dose! 😁 He’s happy to leave me at that dose if it’s helping keep me in Sinus
Fantastic, here's to you being AF free!! 👍I had my ablation in March but my EP won't take me off the meds yet and says he 'likes belt and braces' so expect I will stay on low dose. I will discuss again as the reason I had an ablation was to get off medication. My EP says I will be on the anticoagulants for life as you can go into AF and not know it. He says there is no ,'cure' for AF
Well done Rob. Sounds great. Interested to read that you’re coming off Apixaban in 2 months. I’m same age, fit and with no other medical issues but I’m still on Apixaban (nothing else) post PFA last Dec. I have my next 3-monthly review in a few weeks and want to discuss that. They are considering a loop to monitor if I come off meds.
Also do you have a link to the videos you watched about PFA. I couldn’t find anything before my procedure. Cheers.
I had a Pulsed Field Ablation for early persistent AF in September 2022 in the UK. I also found the procedure fine (as I recall from being told afterwards it only took around an hour) and as far as I am aware I have been free of AF since then. Best of luck with your outcome.
Thank you so so much for posting this. I’ve been on Flecanide & Adizem SR for 2 years now for PAF & some unpleasant side effects are developing. Really don’t fancy taking these forever so I’ve been thinking about an ablation.
Is pulse ablation different from the standard ablation that is carried out here in the uk do you know ?
Some pleased for you , onwards & upwards. Wishing you all the very best .
I will add that initially the only issue was a slight sore throat, plus the left side of my jaw was sore which just going away now. Not sure what was shoved down my airways, I guess I was intubated and in an awkward position for over an hour.
Bruising was also minimal yesterday after the procedure, but now it starting to look pretty ugly plus fluid retention at the wound site. Perhaps the blood thinners are the reason for all the bruising.
No pain whatsoever in the groin and zero sensations with my heart. I did ask the surgeon if he actually did the ablation as I felt 100% as soon as I woke up.
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post ablation
Pulsed Field Ablation (PFA) for Atrial Fibrillation 
Pulsed Field Ablation
