“Is a pacemaker implant safe?”
My mother is 70 years old, and she needs to have a pacemaker placed. Are pacemaker implants safe?
7 Answers
Yes.They are very safe.
Pacemaker implants are generally very safe. There is typically a less than 1% risk of a serious complication with could include bleeding at the site of insertion or infection typically around pocket created to insert a pacemaker generator. Overall, a very safe procedure .
Yes. Safer than not having one when you need it.
Pacemaker implant is very safe. But as with any invasive procedure, there are associated risks.
Mark Rasak
Cardiologist
In experienced hands, they are very safe.
Pacemaker implantation carries a low risk of a major complication in the proper hands, and in the majority of situations, the benefits definitely outweigh the risks. You can always get a second opinion. Also, cardiac electrophysiologists are the physicians that specialize in this and it has been shown that their complication rate is lower than cardiologists or cardiovascular surgeons.
No medical procedures are entirely free of risk. Pacemaker implantation can have complications of infection, bleeding, and, rarely, cardiac perforation. However the benefits of a pacemaker far outweigh the risks, so if Mom has symptoms from her slow heart rate, I would probably go ahead and do it.
