What does the procedure involve?
An electrical study and ablation for an SVT involves placing catheters in to the heart via veins at the top of the legs.
Local anaesthetic is used to numb the skin before placing small tubes in to the veins. If we can trigger your palpitations the chances of successfully treating this by heating the tissue is approximately 95% (95 out of every 100 procedures performed).
If we successfully treat with ablation most patients can stop medication used for palpitations.
Factors to consider
There is a small risk associated with this procedure. The chance of complication with this procedure is approximately 1%. This means that one person would experience a complication for every 100 procedures performed. Life threatening complications are extremely rare.
- There is a very small possibility of stroke. Roughly one stroke occurs in every 1000 procedures.
- Bleeding around the heart that needs to be drained with a needle and tube sometimes happens. This would happen approximately three times for every 2000 procedures done.
- Bleeding due to placement of tubes at the top of legs happens in three out of every 1000 procedures.
- Damage to the electrical system that would need another procedure to place a pacemaker happens, approximately, once for every 200 procedures performed.
- Blood clots in the legs that travel to the lungs happen approximately once for every 1000 procedures performed.
Options to consider
Other options for the management of your palpitations were also discussed with you in clinic. When thinking about the options you should think about:
- The chance and impact of having palpitations with or without tablet treatment.
- The chance of palpitations limiting your activity or the need for hospital admission for treatment.
- Some patients have side effects with medication such as feeling tired or having a slow heart rate.
Further information and contacts
Further information is available on the Arrhythmia Alliance website.
Before your procedure we would also encourage you to watch a short video explaining your procedure. This is available in multiple languages and can be accessed on the Explain My Procedure website. The code to access the video is: takeheart11221
If you have any questions you would like to ask before coming to hospital for your procedure please contact the arrhythmia nursing team on 07584 184 507 or
0113 392 5884. You can also email us – [email protected]