SOB after heart bypass surgery

[jess0820]

My uncle had quadruple bypass surgery on Tuesday morning he did very good through the surgery and his numbers and everything looked good. Wednesday morning the took the breathing tube out and he started having shortness of breath and anxiety he was VERY irritable so that put a mask on him similar to a cpap machine and then the anxiety got worse and they said he was working him self into a frinzy and later about 10:30pm they put the breathing tube back in and heavily medicated him to keep him asleep and calm. Well it is now Friday and he still asleep and they said that everything still looks good except the breathing aspect so they did a CT to see if there were any underlying lung issues, he is a heavy smoker. Has anybody ever experienced complication post-surgery for themselves or family that relate to this and can share.
                                                           Thanks

[ed34]

The ventilator can still be doing the breathing for a patient if cpap is on or not. It is common for cpap to be used in both situations because it simply means the pressure of the given air is above room pressure, forcing the airways open more.

[jess0820]

when the ventilator machine is reading CPAP does that mean he is doing a lot of the breathing on his own?

[jess0820]

Thank you for you advice. He did have a CT done everything looked good. The doctors told us that his lungs just need time to strengthen back up, and since he is a smoker it could be a slower process and need help from a ventilator. He is actually doing really good today I went and seen him and he was awake and he would shake his head yes or no to any questions we asked they were talking about taking the ventilator out tomorrow since he had a really good day today he stayed calm and he wasn't try to crawl out the bed. The only thing was today is his stomach is hurting (gas or BM) but he really cant do neither so they gave him something to try to help him go. I actually have another question

[skydnsr]

It's serious surgery.  People think of it as "routine" because it is done so commonly, but it is not routine in the sense of being trouble-free.  There is a small but real number of people who do not survive the surgery or who do not live for at least 30 days after the surgery.  First of all, anyone who even needs this surgery has serious health problems to start with.  People with coronary artery blockages are not in the best condition to even go through something that is as massively stressful as open-heart surgery.  The only reason such surgery is done is that the consequences of not doing it are worse.  Second, the operation requires cutting all the way through the bones and muscles of the chest, stopping the heart, cutting on the heart and other tissues, and then restarting the heart and sewing the person back together.  Even someone in the best of health would have difficulty tolerating that.  If someone got that same kind of injury in an accident, you would be amazed if the person lived.  What your uncle is going through now is not uncommon for coronary bypass graft surgery patients.  Hopefully, he will pull through and be okayk, but it is a miracle that this kind of intervention can even be done at all.  Best wishes for your uncle.

[Paderla Anitha, DNB]

Hello and hope you are doing well.

His problem could be due to his pre existing lung problems, which could worsen if there is a superadded infection post surgery. Was a CT scan of the head done? As sometimes cardiac bypass surgery may impair the body’s mechanism that controls blood flow to the brain, potentially increasing the risk of stroke. The highest risk of stroke after a bypass is in the first day or two after the procedure. Lesions in the brain can sometimes cause an inability to breathe. So, please discuss this with your doctor. And Good Luck.

Hope this helped and do keep us posted.