How will I be admitted to hospital?
For procedures at Royal Melbourne, you will attend the Pre-Admission Clinic on Ward 2 East at the Royal Melbourne Hospital one or two days before the procedure. You will meet members of the surgical and anaesthetic team as well as having a chest x-ray and some blood tests. You will then be admitted to hospital early on the day of the procedure. Some patients are directly admitted to the hospital or are transferred from another hospital. You will have the opportunity to ask questions to the doctors at the time of admission.
If you are having your extraction at Melbourne Private Hospital, there will not be a pre-admission visit. Instead, your admission will be coordinated by my Consulting Rooms' staff. Some patients are transferred directly from another hospital.
How long is the stay in hospital?
This depends on the need for antibiotics to control infection and the timing of a new implant. Most patients are up and about on the day following the procedure and go home 24 or 48 hours later.
When will I be discharged?
For straightforward elective extractions, discharge is often the day after the procedure. For more complex procedures, particularly if the extraction is needed because of infection, discharge may be delayed until it is safe to implant a new device. There is often a delay of about a week between extraction and reimplantation, so the total hospital stay is then approximately 8 days after the operation.
When can I drive after lead extraction?
The Australian Road Rules do not specifically set out when a person can return to driving after lead extraction. At times, this will be guided by the seriousness of your illness, so it may be longer for somebody who has an emergency or acute extraction than for an extraction performed for elective or semi-elective reasons.
Generally, you will likely need to avoid driving for 2 weeks after extraction and/or reimplantation of a pacemaker. If these happen on different days, such as when reimplantation is delayed because of infection, the time starts after the last procedure. For a defibrillator extraction and reimplantation, the non-driving period is likely to be 2 to 4 weeks after the procedure.
Are there costs associated with having a lead extraction?
If your procedure is planned for a private hospital, please speak to your insurer to confirm your eligibility, level of cover and liability for any excesses, co-payments or other out-of-pocket expenses. These may include pathology, radiology and pharmacy.
If you have a general anaesthetic in a private hospital, the anaesthetist may also charge a gap payment and will contact you directly about this.