Transaxillary incision for permanent pacemaker implantation provides excellent cosmetic results with invisible scarring, making it a viable option for young women.
May support transaxillary incision for cosmesis in young women; hypothesis-generating case report requiring prospective validation before practice change.
In surgeries that require the implantation of a pacemaker, the endocardial pacemaker leads are introduced into the cardiac chambers through subclavian or axillary venous catheterization or cephalic vein cutdown. The drawback of this type of surgery is scarring of the pectoral area, which can be a serious cosmetic problem especially for young women. In this study, we report on 2 cases where a permanent pacemaker in two young women with symptomatic bradycardia was implanted using a transaxillary incision. Both patients successfully recovered with no complications and were asymptomatic for more than 17 months after the procedure. Therefore, we found that implantation of a pacemaker via transaxillary incision provided excellent cosmetic results and should be considered in young women that require this type of surgery. (Korean Circ J 2008;38:500-504)
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Choi et al. (2008) studied this question.
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