LAUSR

Defibrillator placement carries an inherent risk to the patient. Traditionally, major adverse events defined as cardiac arrest, tamponnade, pneumothorax, infection requiring re-operation, MI and CVA within 30 days are reported to occur between 3 and 4%. Minor complications such as heamatomae or lead dislodgement are reported between 8 and 13%. Novel lead technologies, protocolised programming and reduced use of Heparin bridging have been reported to reduce adverse outcomes. However, patients are still typically monitored in hospital for 24 hours to mitigate these risks. There is little evidence that discharge delay is effective yet incurs significant additional costs. We sought to evaluate the frequency and timing of adverse events relating to defibrillator surgery (ICD and CRT-D) at a large Canadian tertiary care center (UOHI). We retrospectively reviewed all patients who received a defibrillator placed from 1st April 2013 to 31st March 2018 inclusive. Patient comorbidities were extracted from the hospital electronic medical record (EMR) system. Device related information and complications were extracted from UOHI PaceartTM system and EMR and cross referenced with physician remuneration databases. A total of 2221 procedures were performed on 2153 patients (78% male, mean age 65 years). The majority (60%) of defibrillator implants were de novo, with 884 (40%) pulse generator replacements/ upgrades and 868 (39%) defibrillators had CRT capability. Patients were routinely discharged within 24 hours of ICD surgery. Post-operative follow up ≥30 days was complete in 97% patients. Major adverse events occurred within 30 days in 9 patients (0.4%); 9 (100%) were infection requiring re-operation. An additional 32 patients (1.5%) required repeat interventions or readmission within 30 days of implant, most commonly due to lead dislodgement. Only 2 patients required readmission within 24 hours of surgery (0.1%). All procedure-related adverse events during clinical follow up (≤5 years) were 131 (5.9%) occurring in 122 patients. There were no apparent predictors of adverse events in this cohort. Contemporary risks to patients undergoing defibrillator surgery are considerably lower than that reported in 2010. The risk of infection appears constant despite increased antibiosis. Patients receiving an ICD or CRT-D can safely be discharged within 24 hours if no complications are apparent. None