Radiofrequency Ablation Is Not as Scary as You Thought

Patient with irregular heartbeat or cardiac arrhythmias might be scared of undergoing the treatment for irregular heartbeat. Don’t worry! There is an innovative, effective, and safe way to treat irregular heartbeat without the need of taking the medicine for the rest of your life. It is called “Radiofrequency Ablation” or RFA procedure.

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a treatment procedure for cardiac arrhythmia or irregular heartbeat; or mostly used in fast heart rate cases. Before undergoing RFA, the patient will receive general anesthesia to make the patient fall asleep throughout the procedure. During the RFA procedure, a tiny hole will be created on the thigh, and then one or more catheters will be inserted into the vein going to the heart. The tip of the catheters will send the RF energy to destroy the abnormal cells in the area that has abnormal electrical signals to treat irregular heartbeat. Normally, the whole procedure takes around 1 – 2 hours.

After the RFA procedure, the patient needs to lie down on the bed and will be moved to the observation room where the specialist can closely monitor the patient’s heart rate for around 2 – 4 hours, and then the doctor will determine if the patient will be discharged or allowed to go home. During the first 48 hours after the RFA procedure, the patient might feel a little bit strange because the body is adjusting to the new heartbeat, but it will get better and better as time goes by.