Anesthesia for electrophysiology studies and catheter ablations

Providing anesthesia in nonoperating room locations is becoming increasingly common. The field of electrophysiology and its patient population are growing, resulting in a greater need for anesthesiologists in the electrophysiology laboratory. The procedures are complex and of long duration with patients who have multiple comorbidities. The electrophysiology laboratory is a unique situation in that arrhythmias are sought and sometimes even provoked so that they may be eliminated. The focus of this review will be on anesthesia for electrophysiology studies and catheter ablation.