Although a pacemaker cannot eliminate the cause of a slow or irregular heartbeat, it can restore a regular beat to the heart and improve its pumping function. Pacemakers can therefore significantly improve the quality of life of patients with arrhythmias and save lives. 1. What are the benefits of pacemaker implantation? A pacemaker improves the function of the heart and allows it to pump blood regularly. Some patients must rely completely on a pacemaker to keep their heart beating. After the pacemaker is implanted, patients experience significantly less dizziness, vertigo and syncope and feel more energetic. The pacemaker keeps their heart beating normally and they feel safer. 2. What are the risks associated with pacemaker implantation? Pacemaker implantation carries certain risks, as does general surgery. However, only a small percentage of patients will have complications from the pacemaker implantation procedure. These may include infection, adverse reactions to medications used during surgery, dislocation of the electrode leads, or damage to blood vessels, the heart wall, or other organs. These complications can usually be prevented, corrected or cured. You may feel some discomfort or fatigue after the procedure, but these feelings last only a short time. Individual patients may feel slight discomfort for a long time at the site of the pacemaker implant.