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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Suggest Treatment For Chest Pain After Undergoing Heart Surgery

Yes. My husband had heart surgery a year ago during which the surgeon made an incision between two ribs on the left to repair a tear in his mitral valve (mini MVR). The surgery lasted 5 hours. Since then, he began having all types of chest pain which has increased in severity and is now worse than ever. Long story short, his cardiologist ordered an echocardiogram, which was normal, and referred him back to the surgeon. The surgeon ordered a CT scan, which was normal, and referred him to pain management for what he said was nerve damage caused during the surgery. The pain management doctor said all he could do is prescribe a daily regimen of oxycontin, and another pain management doctor we consulted for a second opinion stated the pain could not possibly be due to nerve damage because there are no nerves in the chest and referred him back to the cardiologist. (Ugh!) So after a few hours of internet research I learned about intercostal neuralgia. My husband has practically all of the symptoms, as well as the leading cause -- chest surgery. Should we consult a neurologist to have him evaluated for it?
Wed, 24 Jun 2015
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Thoracic Surgeon 's  Response
Those are definitely the symptoms of intercostal nerve neuralgia, ofcourse there are nerves in the chest!, I would suggest continuing treatment with the pain specialist and evaluate the posibility of a nerve ablation or blockage; notice this is a very rare case since postoperative pain usually disapears however a few patients develop neuralgia, good luck!
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Suggest Treatment For Chest Pain After Undergoing Heart Surgery

Those are definitely the symptoms of intercostal nerve neuralgia, ofcourse there are nerves in the chest!, I would suggest continuing treatment with the pain specialist and evaluate the posibility of a nerve ablation or blockage; notice this is a very rare case since postoperative pain usually disapears however a few patients develop neuralgia, good luck!