Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 13, 2026
Studying the Coding Profiles of Somatic Stimulation on Cardiac-locked Neuronal Responses in the Rat Spinal Dorsal Horn
Published on: May 23, 2025
Sacral nerve neuromodulation in patients with cardiac pacemakers
Patricia A Wallace1, Felicia L Lane, Karen L Noblett
1Division of Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine, Orange, CA 92868, USA. pwallace@uci.edu
Objective:
The objective of the study was to describe our experience using sacral nerve neuromodulation for urinary urgency, frequency, and urge incontinence in patients with cardiac pacemakers.
Study Design:
The study was a case series of 3 patients with cardiac pacemakers who underwent sacral nerve stimulation for refractory urgency, frequency, and urge incontinence.
Results:
Each patient underwent placement of an InterStim lead wire in the S3 foramen. Intraoperative cardiac monitoring revealed no evidence of cross-interference, even at maximum stimulation. Postoperative telemetry for 24 hours did not reveal any interference from the sacral nerve stimulator. All patients had a greater than 50% reduction in incontinence episodes during their test trial and underwent placement of the InterStim implantable pulse generator (IPG). Intraoperative and postoperative IPG programming was done with cardiac monitoring; no interaction was detectable.
Conclusion:
Sacral nerve stimulation appears to be safe in the presence of a cardiac pacemaker.
