ECG showed Q

Hi. I'm due to have thyroid surgery on the 21st. My surgeon sent me in for routine blood work and an ECG due to general anesthesia. I feel fine, no chest pains but my test came back with a Q. I'm currently experiencing cervical spine issues (herniated disk, arthritis, CDDD, Spondylosis) and had my first epidural injection the day before my ECG test. Without thinking, I took one of my Darvocet for pain about 1/2 hr. before my test. Could that have given a 'bad' reading on the ECG?

Thank you for your time.

[Michael J. McWilliams, M.D.]

No.  There would not be Q waves present because of a medication.  You need to have someone read the EKG and assess if it is a real Q wave or one that is not clinically significant.  We see EKGs all the time that have insignificant q waves called by the EKG reading machine.  The EKG machine is meant to miss nothing and therefore often over calls things.  Show the EKG to your doctor to see what they think.

[jolara]

Thank you very much. Hopefully it's nothing but a false positive.