PVCs after surgery

[Heashon]

Hello, I recently had sigmoid colectomy surgery.  I was in the hospital for 5 days.  On the third day, after taking a walk with my IV stand, I laid back in my bed and noticed that my heart was stopping temporarily, and then continuing.

I had a nurse check it out and she confirmed something was irregular.  They sent a medical doctor to check me out and he said I most likely had PVCs.  I don't really ever remember feeling the sensations before.  I lost about 10 pounds in two weeks before and after the surgery.  They did an EKG but they only left it on for a few seconds and didn't capture the events.

My GP and Surgeon both said PVCs are very common ("almost everyone has them").  They both seem to think that I shouldn't be concerned but I can't help thinking about how strongly correlated this event is with my surgery.

It was suggested that these would go away as I healed from surgery but these events, or PVCs, have only worsened and increased in frequency since surgery (I'm about a month out now).  I've also had some funny chest and arm pains.

Should I at least have someone get a better look at this via holter monitor, ECG, stress test, ...etc?

[deedle1976]

It might well be related to your lower heart rate. Some people have more PVCs at higher heart rates.  Most people, however, have them most at lower heart rates and find when they get their heart rate up a bit by exercising that the PVCs decrease. In some people though the frequency of PVCs is unaffected by heart rate.

[Heashon]

I get anywhere from 2 - 5 per minute.  Translates into 3600 per day.  They seem to occur more frequently when I'm hungry or at night when I go to bed.

More info:
I am 36 y/o male.  Non-smoker, quit drinking in January.  Didn't drink that much before then.

I also noticed that my heart rate and blood pressure have significantly been reduced after the surgery.  Almost seems like too low sometimes. (115/72 - 64bpm).  Both used to be consistently higher (130/90 - 84bpm).

You would think that is a blessing, but it makes me think something has changed with the heart itself considering the contrast in rates before and after surgery.

Maybe not eating for five days and being fed through an IV has something to do with it.

[deedle1976]

How frequently are you getting them; How many per hour or per minute?
PVC's are very common. There are many people on this forum who have several thousand per day. In fact studies have shown that approx 3% of the population have >1000 PVCs per day.
If they are very frequent you could look into having some tests done to put your mind at rest. If the symptoms are very bothersome you can take beta blockers which supress them in many people and should at least reduse the sensation. The surgery connection is interesting but I don't know anything about it.