On Saturday US Vice President Dick Cheney has underwent a small chirurgical procedure to install a new device to monitor his irregular heartbeat.

The device, known as an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, "was successfully replaced without complication," said Cheney spokesperson Megan McGinn. The operation was completed without complications, she added.

Cheney returned to his home at the Naval Observatory and then resumed his normal schedule, McGinn said.

Together with his wife, Lynne Cheney, the 66-year old US Vice President arrived early Saturday at George Washington University Hospital.

The decision to replace the device was taken last month when during a Cheney's annual physical, doctors found out that the battery of the device was running low. They decided to replace the old device with a new one.

Cheney has a long history of heart problems and he is under constant medical supervision for his cardiac condition. Cheney has four heart attacks and a heart bypass surgery in the last 30 years.

His heart problems began when he was 37 years old and his latest heart attack was in 2000. He has had a cardioverter-defibrillator implanted since 2001.