SVT Ablation

SVT (supraventricular tachycardia) ablation is a procedure that uses energy to get rid of the cells in your heart that are causing the abnormal heart rhythm. Performing an ablation for SVT with heat, cold or electricity creates scars that stop these disruptive cells from sending irregular signals that make your heart beat too fast.

Supraventricular tachycardia ablation can treat:

• Atrial fibrillation
• Atrial flutter
• Atrial tachycardia
• Atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT)
• Atrioventricular reentrant tachycardia (AVRT)

Normally, cells send regular signals to your heart’s chambers to beat. The normal heart’s electrical system consists of a series of living “wires,” or fibers, that transmit electricity, which regulates your heart’s rhythm. In some people, these fibers form into a small loop, which creates a short circuit that can disrupt the normal rhythm.

An ablation is a minimally invasive procedure that uses specialized catheters to go into your heart. A healthcare provider uses these catheters to find this abnormal rhythm and administer a controlled amount of damage to interrupt it. This stops it from disturbing your heart’s rhythm.

To create a small scar, catheters use:

• Radiofrequency (heat)
• Cold nitric oxide
• Pulsed field (electrical energy)
• Laser energy

A provider can use ablation for SVT if medicine isn’t helping you or is giving you side effects. Sometimes, ablation is a provider’s first-line (first choice) treatment. The choice depends on the arrhythmia, other conditions you have and the burden of symptoms.

Children can receive ablation, as well. Providers use it for children when other treatments don’t work.

Benefits and risks

Supraventricular tachycardia ablation has a success rate of about 95%. That means it works in more than 9 out of 10 people. But SVT can happen again in some people who have an ablation.

Rarely, you may bleed after an SVT ablation or develop a hematoma (blood pooling). This risk is from the catheters providers use for the procedure.

Other risks include:

• Blood clots
• Reaction to anesthesia
• Cardiac tamponade

On rare occasions, you may have damage to the normal parts of the conduction system, which results in the need for a pacemaker.

What happens during supraventricular tachycardia ablation?

You’ll need to fast (avoid eating and drinking) for six to eight hours before an SVT ablation. Your provider may ask you to stop taking certain medicines before your procedure. You’ll also need to ask a friend or relative to drive you home.

An SVT ablation procedure can take four hours or more.

In an electrophysiology lab, a provider will:

1. Give you medicine through an IV in your arm to help you relax.
2. Clean and shave your groin area.
3. Numb the area where the catheter will go in.
4. Pierce the skin in your groin area and put a catheter (tube) into a blood vessel.
5. Insert an electrode catheter and push it to your heart.
6. Send signals through the electrode catheter to find the abnormal cells.
7. Apply energy, heat or cold to the cells that are causing the issue.

SVT ablation recovery

Once a provider removes everything from your blood vessel, they’ll press on the area where the catheter went through. Sometimes, the procedure team uses manual pressure alone. But it’s common to place a vascular closure device that helps prevent the vein from bleeding. You’ll need to keep your leg stretched out for six to eight hours after that.

You may go home the same day as your procedure or spend the night at the hospital.

The day after you go home, you should be able to return to your normal tasks. But you should wait three to seven days before doing things that are more physically demanding. Your provider can tell you when it’s safe for you to drive.

During the first week after SVT ablation, keep your wound clean and dry. Don’t swim or take a bath. The idea is to avoid submerging the wound under water.

When should I call my healthcare provider?

Get emergency help if your wound suddenly swells up or the bleeding won’t slow down.

Contact your provider if you have:

• Wound swelling or bruising
• Shortness of breath
• Chest pain
• A heartbeat that doesn’t seem normal
• Dizziness
• Fever
• Upset stomach
• Numbness in your leg with the wound

Are you awake during SVT ablation?

Typically, you’re awake for an SVT ablation. But your care team may give you medications to keep you relaxed and comfortable. In some rare cases, you may need general anesthesia. Providers decide this on a case-by-case basis.

How painful is SVT ablation?

The ablation doesn’t hurt. A healthcare provider will numb the area where a catheter goes through your skin. There’s a small amount of pain during catheter placement into the vein because of a lidocaine (local anesthetic) injection.