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What Causes Severe Chest Pain Post An Open Heart Surgery?
Question: I had open heart surgery and have chest pain a lot. I am having pain now with lip twichting why?
Brief Answer:
Mostly due to healing of bone / muscles cut during the open heart surgery
Detailed Answer:
Hello , I am Dr Mody and I will be addressing your concern .
During open heart surgery they have to cut open the bone ( sternum) and lot of muscles to reach the heart inside , so this is painful post the surgery and may persist for 2- 3 weeks in some patients.
A simple paracetamol /acetaminophen 650 mg and if still persistent prescription medication tramadol may be taken .
The lip twitching may be due to pain itself
If pain is associated with breathlessness while you exert , palpitations, or any fever do consult your doctor for other probable causes .
A ecg , 2 d echocardiography will rule out most heart condition post open heart surgery ( whether for blockages / valves ) .
Let me know if any further clarification needed .
Regards Dr Priyank Mody
Mostly due to healing of bone / muscles cut during the open heart surgery
Detailed Answer:
Hello , I am Dr Mody and I will be addressing your concern .
During open heart surgery they have to cut open the bone ( sternum) and lot of muscles to reach the heart inside , so this is painful post the surgery and may persist for 2- 3 weeks in some patients.
A simple paracetamol /acetaminophen 650 mg and if still persistent prescription medication tramadol may be taken .
The lip twitching may be due to pain itself
If pain is associated with breathlessness while you exert , palpitations, or any fever do consult your doctor for other probable causes .
A ecg , 2 d echocardiography will rule out most heart condition post open heart surgery ( whether for blockages / valves ) .
Let me know if any further clarification needed .
Regards Dr Priyank Mody
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Sonia Raina
I had forgot to tell u. My surgery was 10 years ago. Also. I lost vision in one eye about 1 year ago and it came back after 20 seconds. They told they couldn't find anything that I probably had a T I A
Brief Answer:
Cardiac , stomach and sometimes Muscular pain may present this way
Detailed Answer:
Thank you for the information,
The muscular cannot be there 10 years after the surgery .
So here we are dealing with something else .
Possibilities I can think of .
1) cardiac . More probable if the pain increases while you are walking or entering like climbing stairs . If there is associated breathlessness .
Also if it was a bypass surgery the venous grafts tend to degenerate 8- 10 years post surgery.
Doing a treadmill stress test if you can walk or a pharmacological stress test if you are not active active long with 2 d echo will help us find the same ,
If you have sorbitrate on a sitting position keep one beneath you tongue when the pain occurs , see of there is any relief.
2) gastric , ecosprin for so long makes your stomach prone to get erosions and in worse cases ulcers particularly when your food habits are regular.
Taking pantoprazole 40 mg will help in the and bone circumstance.
3) muscular. Likely if you localise exactly where the pin is occurring and any history of lifting heavy objects is present. A analgesic only on sos basis as help .
Yes the transient loss of vision may be due to TIA , however the treatment remains the same as what you are taking foe your heart .
However this time the twitching may be due to a brain event , however it causing chest pain is pretty rare .
Let me know if any further clarification is needed and some more description of your symptoms so I can guide you further.
Cardiac , stomach and sometimes Muscular pain may present this way
Detailed Answer:
Thank you for the information,
The muscular cannot be there 10 years after the surgery .
So here we are dealing with something else .
Possibilities I can think of .
1) cardiac . More probable if the pain increases while you are walking or entering like climbing stairs . If there is associated breathlessness .
Also if it was a bypass surgery the venous grafts tend to degenerate 8- 10 years post surgery.
Doing a treadmill stress test if you can walk or a pharmacological stress test if you are not active active long with 2 d echo will help us find the same ,
If you have sorbitrate on a sitting position keep one beneath you tongue when the pain occurs , see of there is any relief.
2) gastric , ecosprin for so long makes your stomach prone to get erosions and in worse cases ulcers particularly when your food habits are regular.
Taking pantoprazole 40 mg will help in the and bone circumstance.
3) muscular. Likely if you localise exactly where the pin is occurring and any history of lifting heavy objects is present. A analgesic only on sos basis as help .
Yes the transient loss of vision may be due to TIA , however the treatment remains the same as what you are taking foe your heart .
However this time the twitching may be due to a brain event , however it causing chest pain is pretty rare .
Let me know if any further clarification is needed and some more description of your symptoms so I can guide you further.
Note: For further queries related to coronary artery disease and prevention, click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj
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