Cardioversion

Cardioversion is a procedure that may be offered to you when you experience an abnormally fast heartbeat that makes you feel tired and unwell. Conditions such as atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter are a couple of the reasons why you may have been referred to Kingston Health Sciences Centre's Kingston General Hospital (KGH) site to have a cardioversion procedure. In some cases, your heartbeat can be slowed down or controlled with medication, but in certain cases, a low-frequency electrical current may be required.

There are two different ways you could undergo this procedure, they are:

Inpatient

  • While in the hospital, a doctor will assess you in preparation for your procedure.
  • You may have an electrocardiogram (ECG) exam and/or bloodwork done before your procedure begins.
  • You will not be able to eat or drink anything beginning at midnight the night before your procedure.
  • You may drink a sip of water to take your regular medications before your procedure.
  • We will bring you to a monitored area in either the Cardiac Sciences Unit or the Cardiovascular (CV) lab and an intravenous (IV) line will be started if you do not already have one.
  • A member of your health-care team will attach two sticky pads to your chest.
  • We will also hook you up to a cardiac monitor, blood pressure cuff and oxygen probe.
  • An anaesthetist will give you some medicine through your IV to make you sleepy for the procedure. You will likely not remember the procedure taking place.
  • Once the procedure is complete, you will be monitored in a recovery area and once you have recovered, you can return to your regular hospital room.

Outpatient

  • An appointment will be booked for you by the cardiac care office.
  • You will not be able to have anything to eat or drink beginning at midnight the night before your procedure. You can drink a sip of water when you take your morning pills before you arrive at the hospital.
  • You will need to arrange for a ride home from the hospital after your procedure is complete. It is also recommended that you not drive for 24 hours after your procedure.
  • If you wear a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine to sleep, please bring it with you to the KGH site.
  • On the day of your appointment, arrive at the KGH site and go to our Armstrong wing to register for your procedure.
  • We will perform an ECG exam and possibly blood work upon your arrival.
  • You will then be taken to the CV lab on the third floor.
  • The procedure will take about one to two hours including recovery time.
  • Those who wear a CPAP machine to sleep should expect to have a four-hour recovery time.
  • Once inside the CV lab, you will have an IV started and two sticky pads will be placed on your chest. You will also be hooked up to a cardiac monitor, blood pressure cuff and oxygen probe.
  • An anaesthetist will give you some medicine through your IV to make you sleepy for the procedure.
  • Once the procedure is completed, you will be monitored in a recovery area.
  • When you are ready to go home, you will be given discharge instructions and your ride home will be called to pick you up.

Click here to access our cardioversion brochure.