What To Expect During Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator Surgery

Placing an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) requires minor surgery, which is usually done in a hospital. You will be given medicine right before the surgery that will help you relax and may make you fall asleep. Your doctor will give you a local anesthetic so you won't feel anything in the area where he or she puts the ICD.

First, your doctor will thread the ICD wires through a vein to the correct location in your heart. An x-ray "movie" of the wires as they pass through your vein and into your heart will help your doctor place the wires. Once the wires are in place, your doctor will make a small cut into the skin of your chest or abdomen. He or she will then slip the generator/battery box part of the ICD through the cut and place it just under your skin.

Once in place, your doctor will test your ICD. You will be given medicine to help you sleep during this testing so you don't feel any electrical pulses. Then your doctor will sew up the cut. The entire surgery takes a few hours.