Sometimes the leads, which are small diameter wires, from the pacemaker to the implantation site in the heart muscle will need to be removed. The most common reason for lead removal is infection, however over time leads can degrade due to a number of reasons such as lead flexing. Changes to programming of the pacemaker may overcome lead degradation to some extent. However, a patient who has several pacemaker replacements over a decade or two in which the leads were reused may require a lead replacement surgery.