recovery at home after atrial flutter ablation

Sometimes the symptoms may feel different to you after the ablation compared to before the ablation. These symptoms might happen while your heart is healing. You might feel symptoms, such as palpitations, after the ablation procedure. You might also use an ambulatory EKG monitor (such as a Holter monitor) at home to check your heart rhythm. Your doctor might ask you to take your pulse at home to see if it's irregular. Your doctor can tell you about your stroke risk.Īfter an ablation, you might take an antiarrhythmic medicine for a few months to help keep your heart in a normal rhythm. footnote 1 So you'll still need to take an anticoagulant if your risk of stroke remains high. Studies haven't proved that ablation for atrial fibrillation lowers your risk of stroke. But that is only true if your risk of stroke is low. Many people think that having ablation means they'll be able to stop taking an anticoagulant every day to prevent stroke. Don't do anything strenuous until your doctor says it is okay. You may have swelling, bruising, or a small lump around the site where the catheters went into your body. Nodal ablation can control your heart rate and reduce your symptoms, but it does not prevent or cure atrial fibrillation. This controls atrial fibrillation symptoms.Īfter AV node ablation, a permanent pacemaker is needed to regulate your heart rhythm. After the AV node is destroyed, it can no longer send impulses to the lower chambers of the heart (ventricles). With AV node ablation, the entire atrioventricular (AV) node is destroyed.

AV node ablation can control symptoms of atrial fibrillation in some people. AV node ablationĪV node ablation is a slightly different type of ablation procedure for atrial fibrillation. (The pulmonary veins bring blood back from the lungs to the heart.) Catheter ablation in a pulmonary vein can block these impulses and keep atrial fibrillation from happening.

Sometimes, abnormal impulses come from inside a pulmonary vein and cause atrial fibrillation. Another option is to use freezing cold to destroy the heart tissue. This heat destroys the heart tissue that causes atrial fibrillation or the heart tissue that keeps it happening. The electrode sends out radio waves that create heat. There is an electrode at the tip of each catheter. Thin, flexible tubes called catheters are inserted into a vein, typically in the groin or neck, and threaded up into the heart. The procedure is done in a hospital where you can be watched carefully. A local anesthetic will numb the site where the catheter is inserted. You will be given medicine to help you relax. It can relieve symptoms and improve quality of life.ĭuring a catheter ablation, the doctor destroys tiny areas in the heart that are firing off abnormal electrical impulses and causing atrial fibrillation. Catheter ablation is a minimally invasive procedure to treat atrial fibrillation.

Recovery at home after atrial flutter ablation