Can transesophageal atrial pacing cause mucosal injury to the esophagus?
There are no cases published in the medical literature or reported to CardioCommand, Inc. of esophageal injury associated with transesophageal atrial pacing. Nevertheless, it is advisable that patients not be paced for greater than 1 hour. CardioCommand Transesophageal Cardiac Stimulators are voltage limited at 80V, which restricts output energy to a maximum of .032 Joules/pulse. Investigators have used high-energy transesophageal electrostimulation (20-100 Joules/pulse) for successful atrial and ventricular defibrillation in both animal experiments and human clinical trials without serious complications. These studies indicate the risk for esophageal injury is negligible with low-energy, temporary atrial pacing (Cohen et al, McNally et al, McKeown et al, Cochrane et al, Montoyo et al, Yamanouchi et al, Yunchang et al).
