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Updated: Jun 6, 2026

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Published on: January 6, 2023
[Complications of permanent pacemaker. Event operator dependent? Analysis of 743 consecutive patients]
Francisco J Femenía1, Mauricio Arce, Fernando Peñafort
1Unidad de Arritmias, Departamento de Cardiología, Hospital Español de Mendoza, Argentina.
Insights
Permanent pacemaker implant complications are uncommon, affecting 7.67% of patients. Low operator experience and pre-existing heart failure independently predict these complications, guiding future safety improvements.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Medical Device Technology
Context:
- Permanent pacemaker implantation is a common procedure for managing bradyarrhythmias.
- Understanding associated complications and their risk factors is crucial for patient safety and procedural optimization.
Purpose:
- To evaluate the complications associated with permanent pacemaker implants.
- To identify independent risk factors contributing to these complications.
Summary:
- A retrospective and prospective study analyzed 743 patients undergoing permanent pacemaker implantation.
- Overall complication rate was 7.67%, with 4.57% requiring surgical intervention; no deaths occurred.
- Independent predictors for complications included lower operator experience and pre-implant heart failure.
Impact:
- Findings highlight the importance of operator experience and patient selection in minimizing pacemaker implant complications.
- Contributes to evidence-based practices for improving safety in cardiac device implantation.
Unlabelled:
The complications of permanent pacemaker implant, are found among 6%-9% of patients. Different factors are related.
Objectives:
We evaluated the complications related with pacemaker implants and which are the independent risk factors associated with them.
Methods:
Descriptive analysis, type case-controls, retrospective and prospective, including 743 consecutive patients, between January 2007 and April 2008.
Results:
Age: 73.83 ± 12 years, 63.9% male. 43% of the patients had some degree of structural cardiopathy. There were no deaths related to pacemaker implants. Implant procedure-related complications were observed in 57 patients (7.67%), requiring a surgical intervention in 34 patients (4.57%). The most serious complications included one device-related infective endocarditis (0.13%), the entire device system was extracted, and one pneumothorax following subclavian vein puncture with insertion of a chest tube. In the multivariate analysis, low level of operator experience and preimplant heart failure were independent predictors for complications.
Conclusions:
In this consecutive series of patients with permanent pacemaker implant, there was a low rate of complications, similar to the reported international series. A low level of operator experience and preimplant heart failure were related.
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