Father's Pain after Bypass Surgery

  My father had a heart attack about 2 years ago.  He had NO heart damage, but had an angioplasty.  Soon thereafter, everything closed up.  He then had a triple bypass.  Shortly after the surgery, he had another heart attack and found that 2 of the bypasses had closed.  Still no heart damage though.  
  My question relates to his post-bypass pain that he suffers from daily for about 2 years now.  He complains of back pain, shoulder pain, pulling sensations and sharp pains (however, he does not have chest pain).  He says he felt better BEFORE the surgery and has not had one pain-free day since the bypass surgery.  His doctors cannot find one thing wrong with him, but he thinks maybe he had some nerve damage, or that the surgery was unnecessary.  
  My father has talked to MANY people who had the same surgery (including his brother, blood relative) who have never experienced this on-going pain at all.  He is so frustrated.  He feels he is the only one that has this.  Is there such a thing as a specialist that deals with post-bypass pain?  Is this a common thing???  What could cause the pain?
  Thank you so much for any advice/help.

[CCF CARDIO MD APS]

_
Dear Karen,
It is very unfortunate that your father has experienced this pain syndrome, that I agree is most likely related to nerve damage, if not some disordered communication between the nerves in the chest and the brain that processes the information.  Your father would benefit greatly from a neurologic evaluation (that would investigate the integrity of the spinal cord in the area that supplies nerves to the area, as it should not be ASSUMED that this is a post bypass complication until all possibilities are investigated.)  The neurologic evaluation/treatment would need to be in conjunction with a pain center or clinic which has MANY treatment modalities for the treatment of chronic pain.  There is significant risk for the development of depression in untreated chronic pain, so I advise you seek an evaluation as suggested above not only soon, but also SPECIFICALLY with a neurologist that deals with chronic pain syndromes.  
I hope this information is useful. Information provided in the heart forum is for
general purposes only.  Only your physician can provided specific diagnoses and therapies.
Feel free to write back with further questions. Good luck!
If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please
call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at
www.ccf.org/heartcenter. The Heart Center website contains a directory of the
cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your
cardiac problem.

[whoorah8]

A related discussion, Back Pain after a Bypass was started.