RT Book, Section A1 Reichman, Eric F. SR Print(0) ID 57703306 T1 Chapter 32. Transthoracic Cardiac Pacing T2 Emergency Medicine Procedures, 2e YR 2013 FD 2013 PB The McGraw-Hill Companies PP New York, NY SN 978-0-07-161352-1 LK accessemergencymedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=57703306 RD 2024/03/28 AB Transthoracic cardiac pacing is a historic technique of pacing the heart with an electrode introduced percutaneously into the ventricular cavity using a needle trocar introducer. There is sparse literature on transthoracic cardiac pacing, and the benefits and complications are not well defined. Before the advent of effective and efficient transcutaneous pacing, transthoracic pacing was a faster alternative to transvenous pacing in the patient with an acutely unstable dysrhythmia. Presently, the indications for transthoracic pacing are extremely rare. The technique of transthoracic pacing is included in this text as it is occasionally performed in situations where transcutaneous pacing is unavailable or ineffective.1–3