Complications of defibrillation testing. A review of the literature.

Defibrillation testing (DT) has traditionally been performed at the time of implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) insertion. However, there has been a trend away from conducting DT, in part due to observational studies showing uncommon but serious complications related to DT. More recently, several randomized trials have shown no improvement in the efficacy of clinical shocks among patients assigned to have DT. These trials also suggest a modest increase in perioperative complications related to DT; however, the overall rate of complications was very low. This review focuses on the prevalence of complications associated with DT and elaborates on a number of indications for DT.