Simplified physiological pacing after cardiac surgery.

Temporary pacing wires are routinely placed at the end of cardiac surgery. These pacing wires are helpful in maintaining patients with postoperative bradycardias, and physiological pacing is also more desirable in critically ill patients. We herein report our simplified procedure for atrial pacing. This technique uses commercially available intravenous pacing catheters. The catheter is passed through the skin, and its tip is placed at the pericardial oblique sinus just between the right and left pulmonary veins. Atrial pacing is then initiated with a temporary pulse generator. This procedure is simple and effective for patients undergoing cardiac surgery. We also report two clinical cases that satisfactorily underwent atrial pacing using this procedure.