P+ PatientReady
Free public editor

YOUR PRACTICE WORKSPACE

Your patient guide.

Customize your guide. Review your protocol. Print or save as PDF.

View guide preview
Your practice controls the final wordingReview these defaults once against your EP and anesthesia protocols before patient use. Routine instructions are prewritten; medication exceptions still need individual review. Sign in to reopen your saved practice draft. No patient information.
Upcoming guide · preview only

You can explore and edit in this tab. Prints and saved PDFs carry a preview watermark. Clean copies are not released yet. Use the free AF ablation guide for a clean patient copy.

Checking sign-in…

Quick fields build the guide. Direct editing lets you change its wording and switches off most quick fields. Restoring template wording replaces those direct edits. No patient information.

Your guide previewUnsaved draft
View setup reminders and practice review

Upcoming guide: printing or saving as PDF includes a preview watermark, even after direct edits. Blank writing spaces remain available. Review reminders stay in the editor and do not print. Choose “Save as PDF” in the print dialog. Recommended settings: US Letter, portrait, 100% scale, browser headers and footers off. Inspect every page before sharing; long custom text or provider lists can add pages.

YOUR PRACTICE NAMEElectrical cardioversion · Understanding

START HERE

Your electrical cardioversion checklist

Keep this guide with your medication plan and discharge instructions.

Before you arrive

  • Read the medication and fasting plans. Your team must complete any intentional blanks before you follow them.
  • Complete scheduled tests. Bring your current medicine list and allergy information.
  • Arrange an adult driver and someone to stay with you after sedation.

Procedure date / arrival time:

Facility / check-in location:

Before you leave

Keep the current medication list, recovery instructions and follow-up details together. Have conflicting instructions resolved before discharge. Use the emergency warning signs in this guide.

Follow-up date / location:

Practice phone: ____________________

After-hours number / route: ____________________

UNDERSTANDING YOUR PROCEDURE

Electrical cardioversion

Before and after elective cardioversion for atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter

What the procedure does

Electrical cardioversion uses a brief, synchronized electrical shock through pads on the chest and back or chest to restore a regular rhythm. This guide is for planned cardioversion of atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter, not an emergency procedure. It does not involve catheter ablation or an implanted device.

On the day

You receive short-acting sedation or anesthesia through an IV so you are asleep or unaware during the shock. The team monitors your heart rhythm, oxygen and blood pressure. One or more shocks may be needed. You recover until awake and stable and usually go home the same day with an adult driver.

Benefits and risks

Cardioversion may improve symptoms by restoring a regular rhythm, but it may not work or the irregular rhythm may return. Risks include a clot or stroke, a slow or other abnormal rhythm, skin irritation or burns, and breathing or blood-pressure problems from sedation. Serious complications are uncommon but possible.

YOUR PRACTICE NAMEElectrical cardioversion · Preparation

Getting ready

Medicines and fasting

For planned cardioversion, reliable blood thinner use is important. When AF has lasted at least 48 hours or its duration is uncertain, the usual plan is at least 3 weeks of uninterrupted therapeutic anticoagulation beforehand, or imaging to exclude a clot. Follow the timing supplied by your team. Tell the procedure team about missed doses or out-of-range warfarin INR results before proceeding; the team may need imaging or a delay, not just an extra dose.

Blood thinner / antiplatelet plan

Other rhythm medicines
Heart ultrasound (TEE)

Food and drink plan

SGLT2 medicines

GLP-1 medicines

Other preparation instructions

Any separate written instructions for insulin or other diabetes medicines take priority; do not apply a general morning-medicine instruction to them.

YOUR PRACTICE NAMEElectrical cardioversion · Recovery

Recovering at home

What to expect

You may feel tired for the rest of the day and have mild skin soreness at the pad sites. Do not use how your pulse feels to decide whether to stop blood thinners or other medicines.

Your recovery instructions

Follow-up

Follow-up

Appointment / return-to-work details:

YOUR PRACTICE NAMEElectrical cardioversion · When to get help

When to get help

Call 911

  • Severe or sudden chest pain or trouble breathing, fainting, or stroke symptoms such as facial droop, arm weakness or trouble speaking.

Do not drive yourself. Do not wait for a message or remote-monitor response.

Contact the clinic the same day

A sustained return of a rapid or irregular heartbeat, even if you otherwise feel well; persistent skin pain or blistering at the pad sites, or new symptoms that are not improving.

For warning symptoms after hours, use the contact route below. If you cannot reach the team and symptoms are worsening, seek urgent assessment. Use 911 for the severe symptoms listed above.

Practice phone: ____________________

After-hours number / route: ____________________

Follow your personalized medication and recovery plan. This guide supports, but does not replace, the consent discussion or your treating team’s instructions.

PatientReady · Electrical cardioversion · 24 Sep 2026
Evidence behind these instructionsElectrical cardioversion · For your practice’s review

These notes explain the original template, not custom wording or older saved guides. Basis labels distinguish guidelines from manufacturer information and local protocols. A source-check date is not clinical approval. This provider-only section does not print.

Food, drink and morning medicinesPractice protocol — not a universal guideline
Template default
Nothing to eat or drink after midnight; approved morning medicines with small sips of water.
Why this choice
Midnight is this template’s selected local cutoff, not an ASA requirement. ASA allows clear liquids until 2 hours before anesthesia in appropriate healthy elective patients.
Exceptions & limits
Longer fasting is not automatically safer. Anesthesia must set the appropriate plan for aspiration risk, diabetes, delayed gastric emptying and procedure timing. Insulin and other diabetes medicines need a separate plan.

Sources last checked:

SGLT2 medicinesDrug-label-based guidance
Template default
Hold empagliflozin, dapagliflozin and canagliflozin at least 3 days; ertugliflozin at least 4 days.
Why this choice
The differing intervals address perioperative ketoacidosis risk. ACC summarizes the FDA intervals; the linked ertugliflozin label also specifies restart after clinical stability and oral intake resume.
Exceptions & limits
Applies to scheduled surgery/prolonged fasting. Urgent procedures, suspected ketoacidosis, poor intake or dehydration need individualized management. Combination tablets must be identified.

Sources last checked:

GLP-1 medicinesMultisociety clinical guidance
Template default
Continue for patients assessed as low risk for delayed stomach emptying.
Why this choice
The 2024 guidance uses risk assessment rather than a blanket one-week hold. Stopping therapy also has metabolic and access consequences.
Exceptions & limits
Dose escalation, significant GI symptoms, higher doses and other causes of delayed gastric emptying may require a 24-hour liquid diet, modified anesthesia or deferral. The routine text presupposes anesthesia screening; it does not perform that screening.

Sources last checked:

Procedure scope and anesthesiaGuideline / primary patient education
Template default
Before and after elective cardioversion for atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter
Why this choice
A synchronized external shock under short-acting sedation; TEE only if ordered.
Exceptions & limits
This is elective AF/flutter cardioversion, not an emergency pathway.

Sources last checked:

Blood thinners and antiplateletsGuideline + individualized exceptions
Template default
Continue prescribed anticoagulation through cardioversion and for at least 4 weeks afterward; longer according to indication.
Why this choice
Stroke risk persists after rhythm restoration. Missed preprocedure doses can change imaging or scheduling.
Exceptions & limits
The 3-week or imaging pathway applies to AF ≥48 hours/unknown duration. Brief-duration, LAA-occlusion, contraindication and other special cases need clinician customization. TEE does not replace postprocedure anticoagulation.

Sources last checked:

Sedation, TEE and follow-upPrimary patient education + clinic scheduling
Template default
No driving for at least 24 hours after sedation; TEE only if ordered; clinic review at 2–4 weeks.
Why this choice
Sedation affects judgment; TEE is a selected clot-exclusion strategy.
Exceptions & limits
Follow-up windows are proposed clinic schedules, not a mandated guideline interval. Longer driving restrictions apply for syncope, symptoms or local rules.

Sources last checked:

Rivaroxaban and fastingDrug labeling
Template default
Preserve prescribed dose and timing. Rivaroxaban 15/20 mg for AF stays with the evening meal, not a fasting morning dose.
Why this choice
The 15/20 mg doses require food for absorption. Uninterrupted therapy should not be confused with moving every anticoagulant to the morning.
Exceptions & limits
Resolve nonstandard dosing schedules or prolonged fasting before treatment; do not add food against anesthesia instructions.

Sources last checked:

Recurrent rhythm: when to contact the clinicCautious local contact protocol

Use the same-day / after-hours on-call route for a sustained return of a rapid or irregular heartbeat. Reserve 911 for the emergency symptoms in the guide. UW cardioversion aftercare advises contacting cardiology for returning rhythm symptoms; it does not establish an exact same-day versus next-business-day interval. This template’s timing is a consistent local protocol, not a universal guideline requirement.

Sources last checked:

AI-assisted research; primary sources checked 24 September 2026. Not a live literature monitor or independent clinical certification. Local defaults need practice adoption. Patient-specific instructions take priority.

Check & record a practice version

No practice review recorded for this version.

    Advisory checks only—not a clinical safety check. Printing is never blocked. Intentional blanks can be completed by hand before handing the guide to a patient.

    Records the current wording and date; later edits require a new review. This is your practice’s attestation, not certification by PatientReady. Logo changes are not part of the clinical wording record.

    Reviewed version history

    Match the document ID printed on a saved guide to a record below. IDs identify wording, not the logo or later changes to a PDF. Review records are private to the issuing account and this procedure.

    Loading…
    Compare & consider template updates

    Base 2026-09-25.1: clarified recovery contact instructions and procedure-matched evidence notes. Saved edits are never replaced automatically. Compare and adopt updates only after practice review.