ECG test cost in Ghana – What is the cost of ECG test in Ghana?
An electrocardiogram, also known as an ECG or EKG is a visual representation of the heart’s function, including conduction and anatomic features. It is completed by placing electrodes on the limbs and the chest, connecting those to the EKG machine and pressing “start”. To simply put it, It’s quick, 100 percent safe, and painless and can detect many potentially life-threatening heart condition. While not perfect, an EKG can detect cardiac markers for about 60% of the conditions that can lead to sudden cardiac death.
Why do ECG?
With ECG test, your doctor will be able to:
👉Check your heart rhythm
👉See if you have poor blood flow to your heart muscle (this is called ischemia)
👉Diagnose a heart attack
👉Check on things that are abnormal, such as thickened heart muscle
👉Detect if there are significant electrolyte abnormalities, such as high or low potassium or high or low calcium.
👉ECG And echocardiogram are important tests footballers do during medicals to check their heart function.
Changes in the normal ECG pattern occur in numerous cardiac abnormalities, including cardiac rhythm disturbances (such as atrial fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia), inadequate coronary artery blood flow (such as myocardial ischemia and myocardial infarction), and electrolyte disturbances (such as hypokalemia and hyperkalemia).
An ECG examination (Electrocardiography) can be a very useful diagnostic tool for patients with detected cardiac arrythmias and it is usually performed together with a full heart check-up (auscultation, doppler ultrasound, blood pressure measurement).
How to Prepare for ECG test
Some things you can do to get yourself ready before the test are:
🗯Avoid oily or greasy skin creams and lotions the day of the test because they can keep the electrodes from making contact with your skin.
🗯Avoid full-length trousers, because electrodes need to be placed directly on your legs.
🗯Wear a shirt that you can remove easily to place the leads on your chest. Wear easy “wears” to the ECG room… Ladies should not wear gowns to make undressing easy.
🗯Hair interfere with ECG results, so men with hair on their chest should have them shaved off a day or two before the procedure to get an accurate ECG result.
How ECG is performed – what to expect during electrocardiogram
💥During the procedure, a trained technician or a cardiologist will attach 10 electrodes with adhesive pads to the skin of your chest, arms, and legs. If you’re a guy, you may need to have your chest hair shaved to allow a better connection.
💥During the test you’ll lie flat while a computer creates a picture, on graph paper, of the electrical impulses that move through your heart. This is called a “resting” EKG, although the same test may be used to check your heart while you exercise on a threadmill (or while walking about).
💥It takes about 10 minutes to attach the electrodes and complete the test, but the actual recording takes only a few seconds.
💥Results of ECG comes out immediately.
ECG test cost in Ghana – What is the cost of ECG test in Ghana?
The cost of ECG test in Ghana is around GHC 40 – GHC 75 Ghana Cedis. The price of ECG may be higher in cities like Kumasi, Accra, Tamale… say close to GHC 100 Ghana cedis.
Sources:
Dr Udomoh
WebMD
