Ablation standards

I had two ablations at two different centers and the care was quite different. At one center, no sedation was used (I was extremely uncomfortable) and the other center used heavy sedation. In addition, one center had only one "scrubbed" employee, the other had three. The time at the first center was a whopping 7 hours; center two took two. There was one circulating nurse at center one; two at center two. Not surprisingly, I had complications at center one; my problem was resolved at the time of the second procedure. My question is: Are there standards of care for ablation that I should have checked out prior to submitting for the procedure? How many scrub nurses and circulating nurses are the norm? How can a patient find out what they're really in for prior? I have some medical training and thought I had done by homework, but apparently I did not ask the right questions. I certainly feel that the ability of the physician is key, but I also feel that my case might have not been so complicated had there been more nurses and support staff. What do you think?

Thank you.

[CCF-M.D.-RCJ]

Poohbear,

Electrophysiology is still a relatively young field.  Moreover, there is a huge shortage of electrophysiologists in the United States.  These two factors lead to differing practice methods.  Hospital set their own standards for the number of nurses, ideas for patient "throughput", etc.  I am not aware of universal standards, but a check of the www.jcaho.org website might provide you with more information.

The standards for clinical competence for your doctors in electrophysiology are listed at: http://www.acc.org/clinical/competence/invasive/index.htm.

Hope that helps.