Abdominal twitches due to ICD lead dislodgement; A case report

Abstract

Malfunctions of implantable cardiac devices have the potential to be catastrophic. A 63‑year‑old patient was admitted to our emergency department with new‑onset abdominal pain and sensation of twitching on his abdominal wall. One month ago, an implantable cardioverter‑defibrillator (ICD) was implanted in him to prevent malignant ventricular arrhythmias. An electrocardiogram was obtained that showed pace spikes unrelated to QRS complexes. The patient was diagnosed with ICD lead dislodgement and the lead was repositioned in another procedure. In conclusion, emergency physicians should be familiar with the problems of implantable cardiac devices.