Arrhythmia and Non Cardiac Surgery

[bigyellowjeep]

Hello I am pretty new here but i have a question about PVC's PAC's etc. and anesthesia.  I am a 29 year old male who has a 7 year history of PVC's PAC's and a borderline enlarged heart.  i am going in soon for a lumbar laminectomy and i am freaked out about being put under anesthesia.  my EP told me to take .25 MG of atenolol this week and then 2 weeks after surgery to put my heart at a little more ease during surgery.  Sooooo my question is have any of you fellow PVC and PAC sufferers had anesthesia and if so how did your surgery go?  i am a high wired person and i dont touch stimulants at all and only drink alcohol in moderation.  i used to not mind anethesia when i was younger but now i am freaked because i am recently married and have a little girl on the way and dont want anything to happen!  my EP says my issues are benign but i also get a rare case of like a beat beat beat and then a rapid FLAP FLAP FLAP and then right back to normal.  this is occassional and i dont know if that is trigenimy or nssvt? any input is greatly appreciated!

cheers

[anacyde]

Hi there :)  I completely understand your concerns, as I'm a long time PAC/PVC sufferer who had surgery about 2 1/2 years ago.  I was terrified to be put under for the procedure, which lasted a little over two hours.  I spoke to the anesthesiologist before the surgery and she reassured me a lot.  They told me that everything would be carefully monitored and, jokingly, she said in reference to my fear of dying on that table "Do you think I want my statistics messed up?"  lol

She said I did great, not a single blip the whole time.  She said in ppl that have PACs and PVCs, anesthesia often suppresses them anyway.  I was actually palpitation-free for a long time after the surgery - months!

So try not to worry, it sounds like you'll do GREAT.  And if it makes you feel any better, I know women undergoing surgery to implant ICDs and their hearts are huge and weak...and they make it through surgery fine too.  You're in good shape.

Congrats on your baby-to-be!

[bigyellowjeep]

Thank you for the information!  That makes me feel a ton better!  I have been on Atenolol this week (prescribed by my EP to take to take the stress off my heart during surgery) and that has calmed me down a bit.  He wants me to take 50 mg but I started at 12.5 and worked my way up to about 20 but now I am back down to 12.5.  My resting HR was dropping into the low 40's at night and I actually felt like I had a hard time breathing.  So 12.5 works good and I hope that levels me out before surgery because I know I will still be a mess!  One last question; do you know if they gave you a more "heart friendly" anesthesia?  I dont know if there is such a thing out there but of course I am curious!

Cheers