Phototherapy to Facilitate Wound Healing Following Pacemaker Infection: A Promising Tool to Improve Outcomes

Device infection remains a dreaded and increasingly common complication of pacemaker procedures, often mandating removal of all implanted materials. Intensive wound management may be necessary following extraction, requiring multiple follow-up encounters in the outpatient setting. Here, a case of pacemaker pocket infection necessitating complete system extraction is presented. A cutaneous phototherapy device (X39^®; LifeWave, Inc., San Diego, CA, USA) was used to facilitate wound closure. Healing was found to occur 40%-50% faster with this adjunctive therapy, reducing the number of follow-up visits by half. These adhesive patches contain natural compounds that reflect back infrared frequencies emitted by the skin. Biologic activity includes elevation of glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine levels, with a plethora of effects. This non-pharmacological wellness device may be useful to hasten wound healing and recovery from pocket infection.