extreme pain in wrist following angioplasty

[1a2b3]

Hi, I am a 66 year old female who had angiogram and angioplasty through wrist 11 days ago . Blockage was 90 % in LAD. I have been experiencing severe wrist pain and some in bicep for past 5 days . This occurs mainly at night and is so painful my sleep is disturbed. I have been back to emergency and had blood , ekg, ultrasound and X-ray, nothing seems amiss. I am concerned there may be nerve damage . Wondering if anyone else has experienced this and if it will eventually go away . Thank you !

[Crowortak]

Good morning.

I had this procedure 12 months ago. I have not experienced any pain in my wrist but my right bicep has been really painful and had restricted movement eg unable to put my hand/arm behind my back to tuck a shirt into put a belt on. I have had physiotherapy but it has been a long road to get some movement back. It is still painful and restricted at times but not as bad as it was.

No medical professionals relate the two but it is too much of coincidence in my eyes. I have had to just sit it out and let it recover.

[1a2b3 in reply to Crowortak]

hi and thank you for your reply. I have pain in my forearm as well, but not as extreme as my wrist. I feel we all heal differently and doctors are too quick to dismiss the connection between symptoms and procedure. I agree with you it is most likely due to the angioplasty and will just take time to heal. I was assured that everything looked fine likely just a a trauma and deep bruising in the area from the catheter line. The doctor felt I likely had smaller arteries as I have smaller veins. I have been icing and wearing a splint at bedtime, and this seems to be helping as the pain is starting to subside. I hope you continue to improve. Take care.

[Poppy451]

Hi there

I had extreme pain in my hand after angiography. It was so bad I thought I might have compartment syndrome. My hand actually shrunk. I could not use my hand at all to pick up a pen or anything. Couldn't write. It was fine in the end . Just took a long time. I hope it gets better for you.

[1a2b3 in reply to Poppy451]

thank you so much for your reply… I was concerned about compartment syndrome. Also I did have an appointment with my cardiologist for follow up three days ago and he assured me that it was not that. He felt that everything was fine and that I’d likely just suffered a severe trauma to that area because I seem to have smaller arteries and smaller veins. The catheter line they use is quite rigid so he feels it just caused a lot of internal bruising the pain I experience is predominantly at night when I’m in bed so I have been icing it and wearing a splint and that has helped . Slowly it seems to be getting better. Of all the things I was worried about after angioplasty, wrist pain wasn’t one of them . In. I hope you are doing well. Take care.

[liveforsummer]

Good morning. This happened to me shortly after angioplasty, (Dec 14th),which was soon after an angiogram. So quite a bashing. I had a very painful forearm, with restricted movement, hard to get showered and dressed too. Options for advice were limited as it was all over Christmas. I'd left a message with the cardiologist's secretary to no avail. Anyway, I decided to get on with Christmas and by the New Year all seemed fine. (Totally unscientific this..I found placing something cold on my arm helped....BUT I am not medically qualified or knowledgeable in any way, this was just something I discovered by accident.

[1a2b3 in reply to liveforsummer]

Thank you so much for your reply. I had my follow up appointment with my cardiologist two days ago and he assured me that it was normal and it was likely just trauma from the procedure. He said I likely have smaller arteries as I have smaller veins. The catheter line that they use is quite rigid and likely caused a lot of internal bruising . I have been icing it for the past five days along with wearing a splint at bedtime , as strangely, that is the time that it is the most painful. I feel it is slowly healing of all of the things I expected to bother me after an angioplasty. This was certainly not one of them. I’m glad you’re doing well. Thank you For your reply take care.