The Winter 2005 edition of Update, the newsletter of the Ontario Respiratory Care Society, reports on the use of phrenic nerve pacing from the perspectives of physicians, nurses, and patients.

Breathing Pacemaker System

"Phrenic pacing is a wonderful innovation that serves selected patients. Ideal patients are those with a primary problem with respiratory drive and perfectly intact lungs and respiratory muscles such as central hypoventilation either when sleeping or around the clock. "

"Surgery for implantation of the phrenic nerve pacing device is usually not planned until more than six months after injury to allow for recovery from spinal cord injury and/or phrenic nerve injury. Phrenic nerve conduction studies (hemidiaphragm responses after phrenic nerve stimulation) should be performed before implantation of the pacing device to ensure the phrenic nerves and diaphragm are intact. "

"It didn't take long to get used to the pacers and before long I was pacing 24/7 and have been ever since. Using pacers has allowed me to breathe which has kept my chest clear of infection and allowed me to get rid of my trach 11 years ago."

"While the initial cost of a phrenic nerve pacer is significant, subsequent costs seem to be minimal...Without a tracheostomy tube, there are significant savings related to trach care, suctioning, incidence of trach-related infections and subsequent antibiotic treatment...Quality of life with a phrenic nerve pacer is..significantly better."

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