Ablation Success

I’ve heard most people need a second ablation. My friend did after two years now I do after two and a half years. I’ve heard the second one is suppose to last longer. But I guess it’s up to the individual. Ablation is not a permanent cure. I’m going to read the book “The Afib Cure” to find ways to live healthier. Hope yours last longer. Good luck.

Speaking for my husband, he stayed in rhythm for 2.5 years after an ablation. Shortly after receiving Covid vaccine injections his Afib returned with a vengeance. His Apple watch registers up to 35 episodes every day. He's not a candidate for a second ablation since all areas in his heart were treated during his first ablation due to scarring from an unknown cause that were discovered during the ablation. His doctor treated all remaining areas so he wouldn't have to go thru it again. Now he has to live with constant Afib. It has slowed him down, buy he deals with it!

If you look around other forums (this one is excellent!), you can quickly deduce that few of us have permanent 'fixes' via catheter ablation. My sense is that about 1/4 of us will have long-term relief lasting 5-8 years before another intervention is needed due to recurring arrhythmias. My perusal of discussions by well-informed patients suggests to me that many ablations fail inside of a year, or the problem persists after the two-month 'blanking period' after the procedure. I'm going to estimate that about 40% of them are not successful. However, this is mostly due to the lack of skill by the EP. Many simply don't have the experience, or the training, or the outright skills to be successful. Choose your EP very carefully, at least as well as you'd buy a house! Second, touch-up ablations have a success rate near 80%, so that is encouraging. About 40% of first ablations result in atrial flutter, and this is more easily isolated and blocked by a reasonably adept EP.
There is a lot of good work being done to improve the efficacy and durability of catheter ablation. The new trails on Pulse Field Ablation (PFA) look encouraging. But, there's always going to be that niggling problem of experience and skill. One last time: go to an EP who is 'busy', who performs 8-12 ablations each week, and who has done so for at least 10 years.

Good morning,
Had an ablation last Tuesday and still have lots of discoloration and swelling in both legs from upper thigh to top of pubic area. Also feeling some hard "nodes" just above the incision points on both sides. Blood pressure is varying but staying fairly high(150-165 over 85-95) but no AFib register on my Kardia device. Minor headaches come and go. Feel pretty good but wondering if anyone experienced the same and for how long. Appreciate any responses.

Catheter ablation is a 'big deal'. If you have suffered some and gotten worn down with AF, you're that much further into the red coming out of a successful surgery. So, expect to recover, but not by Monday. Reports that it can take a year to regain full normalcy, including a former resting heart rate, are numerous across the various websites. Your heart has damaged tissue, and there is a high likelihood that adjacent pericardial tissue is also damaged, and maybe even your esophagus as been 'softened' up a wee bit by the burning. It's why my EP ordered pantaloc, sucralfate, and rest for several weeks. Those two concoctions minimize the risk of stomach acids further compromising the esophagus if the esophagus has been slightly burned.

A week from today, you should feel a lot better and be raring to go. Just take it easy on the heart rate. Walk, but monitor your maximum heart rate and keep a lid on it. Do this for at least the next six weeks, but work up to the point where your eventual Holter Monitor (usually between 8-12 weeks out) will show a truer picture of your heart health and how well the ablation has worked. In my case, I made sure I climbed the famous Goose Spit steps a couple of miles away, and then hoofed it up a steep hill not far from the end of my walk. I wanted the assessor to know exactly what I was doing (you will keep a diary for this assessment), and how well my heart handled it. Just go easy for the first three or four weeks and work at getting more capable.

Thank you for responding and giving me a real world perspective. Makes sense and will do as you advise. I usually bike daily in the am and do VR boxing sometime in the day and will keep an eye on my max HR. Tomorrow I hope to get some information from the the Dr about those hard knots above the incision points and send them a pic to see if the extent and condition of bruising is of concern. Luckily I feel good, just not much energy. Once again, I appreciate your taking the time.

I had my first (and hopefully last) ablation on March 2. I too reported what appeared to be excessive bruising and lumps at the entry sites in the groin, but they quickly healed. and now, mid July, I am starting to really feel a bit better. It's all about managing expectations. Mine were way off as I thought this was like an outpatient procedure I could just walk away from as if I were 25 again. The impact of the general anesthesia and the "blanking period" actually take much longer, but be patient and resume your healthy lifestyle as soon as your care team recommends.

Thank you Ted, appreciate your sharing the experience. It was an eye opener to say the least to see the extent of bruising so I sent pictures by My Chart and got reassurances as late as this morning that what I was seeing was normal. One of the nurses apologized for not preparing me better but I told her the Dr and discharge nurses said the words but seeing was different. I felt pretty good from the start after the procedure and once the expectation regarding normal was confirmed, doing better. Your response and the one from gloaming are helping me understand this part of the recovery process and it is much appreciated. At 74, I completely understand your "no longer 25" part of the equation for recovery and am going to add to my activity level with care. Defining the time frames from these two responses is extremely helpful. Thanks again and wishing continued success for you guys.