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British Heart Foundation - Beating heart disease together

Pacemakers

Your heart’s sinus node sends an electrical impulse to make your heart beat. If there’s a problem with this, then you may need to have an artificial pacemaker fitted. You might need this because:

You have a particular type of heart block - a delay in the electrical conduction through the heart that can make the heart beat too slowly
Your heart beats too fast, which is not effectively controlled by medication.
You have heart failure, which may cause the heart to pump out of synch.

Modern pacemakers are very reliable and comfortable. Having a pacemaker can greatly improve your quality of life and for some people it can be life saving.

Most pacemakers are smaller than an average matchbox and weight about 20 to 50 grams. A pacemaker sits just under the collar bone and has one or more leads which are placed into the heart via a vein.

A pacemaker has a pulse generator - a battery powered electronic circuit - and one or more electrode leads:

pacemakers with one lead are called single chamber pacemakers
pacemakers with with two leads are called dual chamber pacemakers
pacemakers with three leads are called biventricular pacemakers.

The best pacemaker for you will depend on why you need to have the pacemaker.

How do pacemakers work?

The job of a pacemaker is to artificially take over the role of the heart's natural pacemaker, the sinus node. Electrical impulses are sent by the pacemaker to stimulate the heart to contract and produce a heartbeat. Most pacemakers work just when they’re needed - on demand. Some pacemakers send out impulses all of the time - this is called fixed rate. Pacemakers do not give the heart an electrical shock.

How is a pacemaker fitted?

Pacemakers are fitted under a local anaesthetic with sedation, so you’ll feel very sleepy. You’ll usually stay overnight in hospital and your pacemaker will be checked thoroughly before you leave. Serious complications from pacemakers are very unusual.

How quickly will I recover?

It’s normal to feel tired for a few days afterwards, but most people find that they are able to get back to their normal lifestyle quickly. You’re not allowed to drive a car for at least a week after your pacemaker is fitted.