Key Points

• Catheter ablation is a medical procedure used to treat some cardiac arrhythmias (irregular heartbeats). It's one of several treatments for arrhythmia.
• Your doctor may recommend catheter ablation:
  • To treat your arrhythmia if medicine doesn’t help or if you can’t tolerate the medicine.
  • If you have certain types of arrhythmia, such as Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome or some forms of atrial fibrillation.
  • If you have abnormal electrical activity in your heart that increases your risk for ventricular fibrillation (a life-threatening arrhythmia) and sudden cardiac arrest.
• Catheter ablation alone doesn’t always restore a normal heart rhythm. Other treatments may be needed as well. Also, some people who have the procedure may need to have it done again. This can happen when the first procedure doesn’t fully correct the problem.
• Your doctor can tell you how to prepare for the procedure.
• Catheter ablation is done in a hospital. Doctors who do this procedure have special training in cardiac electrophysiology (the electrical system of the heart) and ablation (destruction) of diseased heart tissue.
• During the procedure, your doctor uses a long, thin, flexible tube called an ablation catheter to find the area where abnormal heartbeats are starting. Then, with the tip of the catheter, the doctor uses one of several energy forms to find and destroy this tiny area.
• The procedure lasts 3 to 6 hours.
• After the procedure, you will need to lie still for 4 to 6 hours. Some people are able to go home the same day. Others need to stay overnight for 1 or more days.
• Recovery is usually quick. Most people return to normal activity in a few days. Talk to your doctor about signs and symptoms to watch for. Let your doctor know if you have a large amount of bleeding at the catheter insertion site or pain, swelling, redness, or other signs of infection.
• Though few, catheter ablation does have risks. Some possible complications are bleeding, infection, and pain where the catheter was inserted. More serious problems are blood clots and puncture of the heart.