Patient was educated that antiarrhythmic medications act by numerous mechanisms to prevent the initiation and conduction of abnormal cardiac impulses, thus inhibiting arrhythmias. The usual mechanisms of action of antiarrhythmic medications are as follows:
- Inhibiting the depolarization
- Inhibition of depolarization of cardiac muscle helps with preventing initiation of an impulse that is out of the normal cardiac rhythm, thus inhibiting arrhythmia.
- Slowing down of conduction velocity
- Slowing down the conduction of an impulse along the cardiac muscle will also reduce the number of impulses per minute, thus reducing the heart rate.
- Prolonging the refractory period
- Tissues in refractory period cannot initiate or conduct new impulses.
- For tissues to initiate or conduct a new impulse, the refractory period should end.
- Antiarrhythmic medications increase the refractory period of cardiac tissues and thereby, help to prevent arrhythmias.
- Inhibiting the pacemaker tissues
- Noradrenaline acts on the pacemaker cells of the heart and initiate the heartbeat.
- The heart rate in some individuals can be very high. Antiarrhythmic medications inhibit the action of noradrenaline on the pacemaker cells and thereby, inhibit new impulse, thus slowing down the heart rate.
- Inhibiting the repolarization
- Inhibition of repolarization of cardiac muscle helps with prolonging the duration of an impulse and reducing the number of impulses per minute, thus reducing the heart rate.
- Inhibiting the repolarization also helps with prolonging the refractory period of cardiac tissues, when they do not respond to any impulses that are out of the normal cardiac rhythm, thus inhibiting arrhythmias.
