Ablation (heat treatment) of atrial fibrillation (Radiofrequency ablation)

We use this patient information to welcome you to the Heart Clinic at Private Hospital Molholm and to provide you with information on the treatment.

Our staff will do their utmost to ensure that you feel safe and comfortable during your stay. Our aim is to combine professional treatment with good personal contact.

RFA (Radiofrequency Ablation)

The purpose of this treatment is primarily to treat abnormal cardiac pulsing.

General information

Preparations at home (fasting)

You must fast, i.e. abstain from taking solid food, for at least six hours prior to your appointment. You are permitted to drink until two hours prior to your appointment (do not take any dairy products).

You are not permitted to smoke less than two hours prior to your appointment.

Medication

Continue taking your usual medication until your time of admission. This also applies if you take Marevan or Pradaxa/Eliquis/Xarelto/Lixiana which is blood-thinning medicine.

Shaving

Please shave your right-hand groin area using a single-use razor on the day prior to your admission.

You need to shave an area of your groin equivalent to the area marked below.

What to bring

Toiletries, slippers and comfortable clothes. Also, bring your usual medication.

Accompanying person and transport

You may have someone accompany you.

However, you do not strictly need being accompanied as you are permitted to carry a weekend bag with a change of clothes and toiletries and are also permitted to use public transport on your day of discharge – including travelling by airplane.

Visiting hours and telephone contact

During your admission, your relatives or next of kin may call the secretariat on telephone number +45 7642 7420.

Your next of kin may be present at the hospital before, during and after treatment.

Mobile telephones are permitted.

On your day of admission

Preparing for your treatment

On your day of admission, you will be received by a nurse who will help you settle in and provide you with information about your hospital stay. You will be given the actual time of your surgery and specific precautions in connection with the surgery.

A drop will be inserted into a vein in your arm. Your blood pressure and pulse will be measured, and blood samples may be taken and an ECG may be performed.

Immediately prior to surgery, the specialist medical practitioner will speak with you and inform you of any details, including any specific circumstances relating to your arrhythmia, which may impact the effect as well as any side effect of the surgery. There will be plenty of time for this consultation and, naturally, your relatives are welcome to participate.

As surgery times vary, you need to be prepared for some waiting time. Regardless of any waiting time, you will be treated on the day in question.

The procedure

The surgery takes approximately two hours. You will see a fair amount of technical equipment in the treatment room, such as X-ray equipment.

Learn more about the use of X-rays here: X-rays

Via the veins in your groin, thin catheters are threaded to your heart. The catheters allow us to measure the electrical impulses in your heart. Measurements are made at different locations in your heart and once the surgeon has found the cause of your arrhythmia , the tip of the catheter is positioned against the inside cardiac wall. Using a slight increase in the temperature of the catheter tip to approximately 65⁰C, the cause of your arrhythmia is treated.

The surgery is carried out in a combination of local anaesthetics and heavy sedation.

Aftercare

You will be monitored by a nurse for the next two hours, during which time you will need to lie flat on your back due to the risk of bleeding from the incision in your groin area.

If you feel any discomfort, pain, sensations of heat or swelling in your groin area, you must tell the nurse of this.

Prior to discharge, the specialist medical practitioner will speak with you. This will be an opportunity to discuss any future precautions.

Discharge

In the morning on the day of discharge, your incision will be checked.

You will receive your discharge papers and we will send a discharge letter with a description of the treatment to your general medical practitioner and the hospital which referred you for treatment.

You will be discharged after breakfast at approximately 08.30.

Home transport

You are permitted to drive or use public transport immediately on discharge.

When at home

During the first week of discharge, you must avoid heavy lifting and physical strain, including sporting activities due to the healing of the incision. You may return to work approximately one week after discharge. However, if your job is physically demanding, you must allow yourself two weeks’ recovery before going back to work.

Complications

In rare instances (a total risk of less than 1%), complications may arise:

a significant accumulation of blood in your groin area incision accumulation of blood in your pericardium

air in your pleura

small blood clots in your vessels, in your heart or in other organs (brain, kidneys, lungs)

These complications may require observation or specialist treatment which may be carried out locally. You will be informed of your risk, during your consultation with the specialist medical practitioner prior to surgery.

You may develop a small bruise in the groin area around your incision. Some patients develop a slightly bigger accumulation of blood which may be bothersome during the first couple of weeks after surgery.

Many patients experience slight pains/pressure/a dull ache in the chest for a couple of days after treatment. If you experience this, Panodil or another paracetamol may be taken to ease discomfort.