A tension-limiting temporary epicardial pacing wire extraction system provides an alternative to current temporary epicardial pacing wire extraction methods in order to reduce the risk of severe complications that may result from variable and excessive tension being applied to the wire during manual extraction. The epicardial pacing wire extraction system includes a housing that houses a motor, a handle for holding the device, a cartridge containing a spool driven by the motor through a coupling for extracting an epicardial pacing wire from a patient, a start/stop button to operate the motor to drive the spool and a cartridge-release mechanism that selectively releases the cartridge from the housing.
