Ideal Pacer Pad Position Study
Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT03898050. Field values are reproduced from the official study page; the official ClinicalTrials.gov record remains the source of truth for eligibility, enrollment, and contact information.
Data is sourced from official ClinicalTrials.gov public API records. Always review the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for the latest information.
Official title
The Ideal Transcutaneous Cardiac Pacer Pad Position Study
Brief summary
Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.
Temporary transcutaneous cardiac pacing is a life-saving procedure in patients with unstable bradycardia. The American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines for the management of unstable bradycardia recommend initiating transcutaneous pacing in patients unresponsive to atropine while addressing the primary cause of the bradycardia. The two most commonly described pacer pad application sites are the anterior-posterior (A-P) position (positive pad placed under the left scapula and negative pad placed on the left anterior lower chest wall) and the anterior-lateral (A-L) position (positive pad placed on the right anterior chest wall and negative pad placed on the left lower axilla). Major resuscitation organization (AHA, European, Australian) guidelines and text books of emergency medicine recommendations for pacer pad placement do not address the issue of which set of positions are preferred. There are no published human studies addressing ideal pacer pad placement. This study's objective is to assess if there is a significant difference in the pacing threshold (mA) between these two pacer pad positions. The study hypothesis is that the anterior-posterior position will require a lower current and cause less involuntary muscle contraction. The investigators plan to enroll volunteer human subjects undergoing elective cardioversion in the electrophysiology laboratory for atrial fibrillation/flutter. After successful cardioversion to a sinus rhythm, each subject will be transcutaneously paced to mechanical capture in both pacer pad positions. Optimal placement will be determined by the pad position with the lowest current required for capture. The conclusions of this study will provide evidence for the optimal choice regarding pacer pad placement, which can be used in future resuscitation guidelines.
Study identification
- NCT ID
- NCT03898050
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Not applicable
- Enrollment
- 20 participants
Conditions and interventions
Conditions
Eligibility (public fields only)
- Age range
- 18 Years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Healthy volunteers not accepted
This page does not interpret eligibility. Detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the official ClinicalTrials.gov record.
Study timeline
- Start date
- Sep 29, 2019
- Primary completion
- Feb 17, 2022
- Completion
- Jun 29, 2022
- Last update posted
- Oct 4, 2022
2019 – 2022
United States locations
- U.S. sites
- 1
- U.S. states
- 1
- U.S. cities
- 1
| Facility | City | State | ZIP | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Maryland Medical Center | Baltimore | Maryland | 21202 | — |
Site contact phone numbers, emails, and investigator names are intentionally not displayed here. Open the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for site contact information.
About this trial record page
- What this page shows
- Public field values for ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT03898050, including study identification, conditions, interventions, eligibility (age, sex, healthy volunteer), timeline, and U.S. site list.
- What this page does not do
- No medical advice, eligibility judgments, treatment recommendations, study quality scoring, or AI-generated medical summaries. No site contact phone numbers, emails, or investigator names.
- Where the data comes from
- Sourced from the official ClinicalTrials.gov public API. The official record is the source of truth.
- Last refresh
- Last update posted Oct 4, 2022 · Synced Sep 17, 2026
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Open the official record
The complete protocol, eligibility criteria, and contact information for NCT03898050 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.