Get To Know Cardioversion
Cardioversion, ladies, is a common medical procedure for your heart. It'll get your heart rhythm back to where it needs to be! You'll get either an electric shock or some IV meds in this procedure. Your doctor will talk about both options with you, and you will decide which is best together! The good news? You don't need to stay overnight for this one, ladies. You can go home on the same day!
This one makes its appearance as an arrhythmia treatment. It'll most often be a treatment for fibrillation, but it works for other types of tachycardia too! Ladies, you're going to need IV meds for cardioversion. You will also need treatment for blood clots first, if you have any! This is likely going to be through blood thinners, though other blood clot meds can be used.
Chemical Versus Electrical Cardioversion
Ladies, there are 2 types of cardioversion! You have both chemical and electrical to consider. Both of them will make your heart rhythm go back to normal. They just go about doing this differently! The chemical type is simple. It uses IV meds to make your heart rhythm stay regular! It can do this for many arrhythmias, ladies. The most common one it treats is atrial fibrillation! By treating it, you'll lower your stroke risk.
Electrical cardioversion uses electric shocks to correct your heart rhythm. You'll need a sedative for the type, ladies, but not the chemical one! Electrical is more effective, but it's a bit more invasive, so many doctors try the chemical version first! Besides, the chemical version increases the electric shock's success if you need it anyway.
Reasons For The Procedure
Ladies, you need this procedure for many reasons. It's going to correct irregular and fast heartbeats. It'll even fix your heartbeat if it's both fast and irregular! Ladies, you will get this procedure if your condition makes a stroke a very real possibility. You need to lower your risk as much as possible! If your symptoms are mild, you won't need this. The risks of the procedure aren't worth the benefits!
Most of the time, ladies, you get to schedule your procedure. You won't need to have it done right away! But if it's a serious case? Doctors do perform cardioversion in emergencies! This is when they'll jump straight to electrical cardioversion. They get immediate results with that type!
Preparing For The Procedure
First things first, ladies, schedule your procedure! Then, you can't drink or eat anything in the 8 hours leading up to it. The only exception? If you still need to take meds, then you can have just enough water to swallow your pills, but no more than that. Check with your doctor first, though, because some meds interfere with cardioversion! Your doctor will also need to screen you for blood clots in your heart first. You don't want this procedure to dislodge them, because that causes serious complications! If you have clots, ladies, take your prescribed blood thinner or other blood clot medication to get rid of them. Your procedure is going to be put off until your clots are gone.