Heart Catherization

On July 3,2002 I underwent a heart catherization. An Angio-seal was placed in my groin area. I returned to work on July 15th but am having trouble with pain while sitting at my desk not only in the groin area but down my right leg as well. It is increasingly difficult to work. Did I return to work to soon? I will not see the cariologist until the 24th, but saw my general MD who said I could go back to work.

[CCF-M.D.-KE]

Groin pain following catheterization:

It sounds as if the time you took off of work was appropriate. Unfortunately, there are some minor complications which occur as a result of a heart catheterization which include bleeding, infection and damage to the blood vessel wall which occur around 0.5% of the time. I think your groin should be evaluated for the presence of internal bleeding around the site (hematoma) and for bleeding within the blood vessel wall (aneurysm or psuedoaneurysm). Your groin should contain a pea sized nodule over the site, if it is  around the size of a golf ball you may have experienced one of the above complications. The femoral nerve also runs close to the artery where your catheterization was performed. It is also possible that you may have sustained some nerve irritation or damage which may account for the pain you are experiencing down your leg. I would recommend you see a doctor tomorrow to have your groin examined, followed by an ultrasound to look for bleeding complications.

Thanks for your question,


CCF-MD-KE

[itsa4847]

in jan i had the heart cath. with the angio seal also.  and after i had gone back to work about 2 weeks later i to experienced pain down my thigh leg for almost till june unfortunatly (i did ask and they said it was minor nerve damage) will it finally went away.  Like you it mostly bothered me sitting at my desk.  or i even noticed it sitting on car rides sometimes it was very uncomfortable.  even at nite i would go to bed and take a handful of asprin cause the pain was so annoying. so if this is anything like i had it will go away.  
good luck to you.

i have coronary artery spasms.  doing much better now on imdur and cardizm.
Lynn

[kjap]

Thankyou for the comment. My next question is did the pain effect any of your toes? My last three toes hurt on my right foot hurt and burn so much I can't stand to wear my shoe. Does that have any thing to do with the angio gram. They found a blockage in one of my smaller arteries but it is to small to put a stint in it. I will learn more about my condition when I go to the cardiologist on the 24th.

[howlinwolf]

kjap, I had a cath on June 28. Yesterday, while walking in the park, the toes of my right leg, where I had the cath, felt like they were on fire they burned so badly. I thought a spider or something bit me. My toes are a little bit swollen. I noticed in your comment that you are having problems with your toes. I wonder now if there might be some connection between the cath and these symptoms. I've had pain at the site of the cath in my thigh, but it's slowly going away. Thanks for your insight.

[mkaylanham]

I too had this test at 33 yrs old. I had the procedure done on 7/10/02 and they used an Angioseal to close the artery. I was fine except for some discomfort for the first 10 days then I noticd my leg was swelling. I called the Cardiologist, and he sent me to the ER to have it checked. All they did was check by sonagram for blood clots, give me Motrin, and sent me home. Well here it is 15 days after the procedure and my leg is 1 1/2 inches bigger than the other leg. I have been to the Dr today, and he is sending me to a Vascular Dr this afternoon. I am not sure what is going on. My cardiologist says my leg being swollen has nothing to do with the Catherization... Does anyone on this forum know of others who had this problem?

[kkat]

I was very glad to find this site and information today.  I had a heart cathorization in late February of 2001. I was extremely lucky to be near a city with a good heart hospital when I developed a pain the gripped my shoulders before the class of third graders I had at the time. (I am a elementary art teacher K-5...Just a little stressful I guess)  I had 90% blockage in 3 arteries. I now have 3 stents and have done pretty well until recently when I have presented with some of the symptoms discribed by this group. Initally, I tired easily and had a little swelling at groin cath. site and in my right foot.  Doctor examined and told me to rest and put my feet up when swelling occured which I have done.  Just recently the swelling in my right foot and leg has been a daily thing.  My leg is also so painful that I can't sleep at night. I now can't bend that leg completely.
Anyway,  I was glad (Not to hear that others are in pain and having difficulty!) to find out that these things probably are what the doctor said.  (All of these things can be frightening when we don't know what is going on and IF we should be worried or take action...Or, they are to me.)
This AM I spent more time than I should of "surfing" and noticed that my right hand and leg were numb. I decided that I just needed to move around and it would go away
. The leg got better but it took several hours for the hand to get back to normal.
Before anyone scolds me...I have a doctors appointment tomorrow morning! Bottom line is that it may be nerve damage or pinched nerve. Hopefully we can find out whats causing all of this and it can be corrected.
The goodnews is my bloodpressure is great, colest.count is now normal and all that oxygen that is getting into my blood now has actually made some wrinkles seem to of gone away!  Take care. K

[mkaylanham]

I went to a Vascular Dr. and he checked my whole leg with sonagrams and found everything appeared normal. He has sent me for a CAT scan of my pelvis and abdomen area and that came back fine, he gave me a prescription for a stocking to wear to keep the swelling down. My leg is still swollen, but not as bad as the last time I posted. The Vascular Dr. thinks I am having a reaction to the Angioseal products, which is what i suspected.
Hope everyone else is better.

[howlinwolf]

It's been over four weeks since my catheterization and I'm still a bit sore in the groin and upper leg. It feels like a pinching, or bruising. I called the doc last Friday, and he said it was very abnormal to have pain this long and that I should come in to check for an aneurysm. I went in, he listened with a stethoscope and pressed the groin to feel the pea sized lump. He said everything was fine. I wish he had given me an ultrasound, though, to allay my fears of aneurysm or whateverelse.
I'm still having problems with my right toes, but the cardiologist says it's not connected. My toes, which I mentioned in an earlier post, had searing burning pain while walking in the park a couple weeks ago. It was only relieved a few minutes later when I took my shoe off. This week, I have intense itching, and some swelling in the toes. I'm beginning to wonder if I'm allergic to the angio-seal collagen plugs. Does anyone know how long these plugs stay in the artery? I had two of them because they looked at my right ventricle as well as the left during the cath. Do the plugs stay in forever, or does the body absorb them?  Thanks for any insight.

[howlinwolf]

It's been over four weeks since my catheterization and I'm still a bit sore in the groin and upper leg. It feels like a pinching, or bruising. I called the doc last Friday, and he said it was very abnormal to have pain this long and that I should come in to check for an aneurysm. I went in, he listened with a stethoscope and pressed the groin to feel the pea sized lump. He said everything was fine. I wish he had given me an ultrasound, though, to allay my fears of aneurysm or whateverelse.
I'm still having problems with my right toes, but the cardiologist says it's not connected. My toes, which I mentioned in an earlier post, had searing burning pain while walking in the park a couple weeks ago. It was only relieved a few minutes later when I took my shoe off. This week, I have intense itching, and some swelling in the toes. I'm beginning to wonder if I'm allergic to the angio-seal collagen plugs. Does anyone know how long these plugs stay in the artery? I had two of them because they looked at my right ventricle as well as the left during the cath. Do the plugs stay in forever, or does the body absorb them?  Thanks for any insight.

[jessejames]

My dad is a 66 year old male who has a multitude of health problems including diabetes and hypertension.  He has been advised that a fistula will need to be implanted shortly as kidney dialysis will be administered in the near future.  His kidneys are failing--high creatine.  He has had two TIA's, he had bladder cancer in the early 80's and had successful surgery via bladder removal/illiostomy.  He has Thalasemia and recently suffered a mild heart attack.  These are only a few of his medical problems--most were ailments/illnesses arose in the last 20 years.

He is scheduled for a heart cath on 8/19 and we have been advised that his kidneys will have a hard time filtering the dye used.  The doctor is going to administer some prophalytic measures to protect the kidneys via medicine.  We've been told if he does well during the heart cath and if there aren't any blockages, he'll be okay.  However, if there are blockages and he needs an angioplasty, they fear his kidneys will fail because of the dye needed in administering same. The flip side isn't good because if there are blockages, he could suffer from a heart attack, if the angio isn't done.

Are there any alternatives here?  We live in the Scranton, Pennsylvania Area so we are only about 2-3 hours from Philadelphia and about the same to NYC. If there is a treatment that can be rendered in Scranton, that is fine too.

My dad really trusts his doctors and has received great care.  However, we are a little behind the times in this area and it is a well known fact that big city hospitals--particularly teaching hospitals are great resources for up-to-date medical treatments and procedures.

He is only 66.  If something else can be done to rectify his potential heart problem/kidney failure and that the procedure will help him to maintain a good quality of life, I'd like to at least investigate it.

Thank you.

[clovanvale]

I am beginning to get small bruises after a catherization two and a half weeks ago.  I am on Plavix and 81mg. of aspirin.
My followup appointment is three days from now. In addition from day one I have experienced soreness in the abdominal area and hip area.  Is this from nerve irritation and will it ever disappear?
Based on comments and answers from others I think I should go to ER for a sonagram to check for an aneurysm.

[Nora612]

A related discussion, bleeding aneurysm ?? in groin area after heart cathereterization was started.

[tawn40]

A related discussion, groin pain post heart catherization was started.