heart catheter recovery

[jackdavis]

I had a heart catheter done 9 days ago with very little bruising for 7 days.  about a day ago some light bruising in my leg with some pain in the groin and leg area.  But no swelling, pus or redness in the operation site.  Is this normal or of any concern??

Jack

[ed34]

The femoral artery where they did your incision, is right against a bundle of nerves. Sometimes when they put an angioseal on the artery, it puts pressure on the nerve for a few weeks. The angioseal dissolves in 90 days. Sometimes there can be very slight damage to the nerve. You probably got a zap from the nerve being tickled by the angioseal.

[grambolexjj]

I had a hearth cath and the next day I had a zap feeling from my groin to the heart like 2 seconds, didn't feel bad after the zap but still wonder if that was bad ?  I didn't call the Dr :(

[ed34]

Well yes and no. A gradual training scheme has been spreading through the world of cardiology but there are still many who do not yet use the arm. There are still sometimes complications, such as very twisting and turning arteries. If it's very difficult to get through the arm artery, they will switch to the leg and vice verca.

[ed34]

I have had 6 incisions in the groin area now and every time has been different. My first one ached like mad for about 2 weeks and the bruising went on for about the same amount of time. As I had more procedures, they seemed to lessen in pain. My last procedure caused an ache for one day and no bruising at all. I think my artery is probably mostly scar tissue by now. If you take it easy with your leg, i.e. no heavy exercise or much bending, it should be fine. They use something called an angioseal to close the artery for healing and this dissolves over a period of 90 days. You may be able to feel a slight lump if you press it gently. If the pain gets any worse, or the bruising increases much more, I would go and have it checked to make sure the angioseal hasn't dislodged. Such things are very rare indeed and so it's most likely you will be just fine. Maybe you have just overdone it a bit with your leg movements.