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Interaction Between Permanent Cardiac Pacing and Electrocautery: The Significance of Electrode Position
Author(s) -
CHAUVIN MICHEL,
CRENNER FRANCIS,
BRECHENMACHER CLAUDE
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
pacing and clinical electrophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.686
H-Index - 101
eISSN - 1540-8159
pISSN - 0147-8389
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-8159.1992.tb03015.x
Subject(s) - medicine , electrode , lead (geology) , position (finance) , cardiac pacing , voltage , biomedical engineering , acoustics , electrical engineering , cardiology , physics , engineering , finance , quantum mechanics , geomorphology , economics , geology
The danger in utilizing electrocautery during a surgical procedure on a pacemaker patient depends, to a great extent, on the position of the electrodes. We have studied this influence in an experimental model consisting of a plexiglass tank filled with a saline solution. Seven pacemakers were successively attached to an immersed and fixed frame and connected to a lead whose tip remains in the same location throughout the experiments. An ERBOTOM T 400 C generator (450 KHz) was used in an unmodulated unipolar mode at a maximum output (400 W). The high frequency current was delivered between a patch located successively at six preset positions in the tank and another electrode applied to 176 surface locations. For each position, we measured the currents in the lead with a separate measurement circuit connected in parallel on the same lead. Results were displayed on a map. Regardless of the patch position, currents were: (1) at a maximum when high frequency was delivered close to the pacemakers and around the tip of the lead; (2) negligible when applied to the path followed by the lead; and (3) a function of the distance between electrodes. These results may help to formulate recommendations to prevent accidents when using electrocautery in pacemaker patients.