ablation recovery

[mtn813]

My husband has suffered severe bruising and pain that has brought him to tears.  He has had trouble getting up from a seated position, can't bend over, and can't lie down.  He was not sent home with any pain medication.  His doctor scheduled a visit in three weeks.  We spent the fourth night after the ablation in the emergency room, because the pain kept getting worse, and we were concerned about clots.  How usual is this?  A 14 gauge needle was used, and there appears to be at least five needle sticks in his groin.  Has he been butchered?  Or have others suffered (and I use this word advisedly) as he has?  Thanks for your feedback.

[IaneFortin]

Sorry to hear about your husband's discomfort. Having just finished an ablation this Monday, I felt some discomfort but nothing horrible. I was warned that there might be complications ( bruising, bleeding, numbness of the extremities ) I have been lucky since I've had none of these. But I'm sure your husband is in good hands. Also you shouldn't forget that we all react differently to any situation. No one person is the same. Truly sorry to hear about his situation but he should recover quickly once it's under control.

Iane F.

[twinbee]

I guess people just heal differently. After my ablation, I had no real pain in either of my groins areas. However, my dad had the procedure done, and he could barely walk, or get out of the chair. Hope your husband is feeling better real soon. Wishing you both well, and wishing you enough...

[cindy707]

No your husband hasn't been "butchered".  I am so sorry that he is going thru this pain and to me it is totally unnecessary w. todays medicine that is offered to  us.  I do not understand why the doc didn't send him home w. some sort of pain meds to me that is a little crazy but all it should take is a simple call to his/her office and tell them that the area is still super painful and tender.  What you don;t want to see are pretty simple words from a medical stand point...the words are:  red......hot .....swollen.  Red means that if the area around the groin becomes red you may have a problem...if it is hot to the touch where the red is you definately may have a bigger problem and if it is swollen for 100% sure you do have a problem....and that problem would be a huge chance of DVT or a clot in one of his veins.  The only thing that i am not really understand here is why is he in pain when he lies down...i can understand bending and sitting because the groin area where they put the catheter for the ablation is in the crux or bended area of the groin but laying down doesn't seem right to me...i know after my ablation it was also pretty painful in that area but they told me to put ice packs on the area every 20 minutes for 2 hours and that took care of it...i know you are supposed to stay away from heat for sure. It may be that your hubby is hyper sensative to this area with pain.  As far as your worry w. clots go it used to be a big concern years ago when they went thru the femoral artery for the procedure but that is now passe and a thing of the past...now its our veins but definately like Ireneo said "good call".  I think as each day goes on it should ease up less and less and you may want to have him elevate his legs if you are going to use the ice packs.....just don't give him any meds w/out talking to his doc but if it were my hubby (if i had one) i would be blowing up that heart docs phone until they did something.....you or your insurance paid alot of money for that procedure and your doc needs to earn it now with aftercare...good luck to you two...

[ireneo]

14 gauge sounds about right to run catheters up there. I don't know what size they used with my ablations but I know they used a French sheath to protect the veins and ran 2 catheters up each side. So yes, it has to be a bit on the large side. That's why they numb the groin.

Pain is so subjective so I can't quite compare his to mine. I'm the type of idiot that went shopping the day after abdominal surgery to remove some female body parts. No sense I guess.

After my ablations I did have bruising, especially on the right side. After my first ablation I did have some pain in the right groin and down the right leg, possibly due to some bruising of a nerve. It hurt to bend and to sit. When I did sit, I stretched my leg way out in front of me to relieve some of the discomfort. Some people even end up with a large hematoma after an ablation but it eventually resolves itself.

I'm glad to hear that he was checked out at the hospital for clots. Smart move. Also glad to hear they didn't find any.

I don't know what to say. I'm sure the pain should ease up soon. If he continues to have problems or the leg swells or turns blue/purple, he should go right back in.