Phrenic nerve damage at ablation.

[Springbulbs]

I had an ablation for AF 2 months ago and I was told my right phrenic nerve was damaged in the process. I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this and if it fully recovers. I find I get out of breath more easily than before.

[CDreamer]

There have been a number of posts about ablation/phrenic nerve damage, I would suggest you use the search box and enter phrenic nerve.

[Springbulbs in reply to CDreamer]

Many thanks CDreamer

[Buzby62]

Yes, use the search bar as CDreamer says or follow this internal link

healthunlocked.com/search/p...

Also see related posts on the right of this page or bottom if on a mobile.

[Springbulbs in reply to Buzby62]

Will do thank you.

[JOY2THEWORLD49]

Hi

Researching This nerve it reads - regarding reversing the damage - to have repair done within 12 months.

It sometimes reverses itself might I add,.

What a blow but the surgeon is responsible. Get talking about what he is going to about it.

The repair would be done by a plastic surgeon. Yes damage affects your rib cage responding to breathing. It should be sensory response but damage causes the response to be absent. It sounds like breathless could be a result.

Was it a private surgeon or public.

I know that preoperation of thyroidectomy and my singing choir soprano voice, my support person told my surgeon to be very careful around the voice box.

So at 5am I had the first saline drip put up. Then replaced. Then 1 hr prior a blue thick drip was put through. It was a preventative way to get nerves, veins etc out of the way.

This one action saved my voice.

But it took 3-4mths to get the voice from mono to soprano.

I trusted it would, so by late September I was practising with choir for our Christmas carols in December.

Prayers your way lass.

cheri JOY. 74. (NZ)

[Springbulbs in reply to JOY2THEWORLD49]

Thank you.🥰

[MummyLuv]

I personally experienced this after my first and only catheter ablation. (After that I sought out and had a mini maze).

I started to struggle with my breathing quickly after the ablation, coughing when I tried to speak and ending up breathless. That went on 2-3 months. I had to extend my time off work as I was unable to talk without a coughing fit.

It gradually got better. I am 3 years on from that now, I still notice I am more breathless than I was on climbing stairs for example but mainly I am back to normal.

[Springbulbs in reply to MummyLuv]

Thank you for this, it's comforting to know it could improve. Pleased you're alot better now.

[Singwell]

Hi, worth reading the info here. You obviously have two phrenic nerves and these serve different lobes of your diaphragm. I think mine was disturbed for about 5 days following my 1st ablation - I felt like I could only take half a breath! It did get better and hopefully yours will too. You could try using your lower ribs and back to expand your inbreath. Put your hand just above the waistband at the side and take a slow deep sniff in - think of gently expanding rubber ring. Then let it out of course 😉. Do this a few times each day - the diaphragm is designed to do most of the work of our breathing in automatically, but you can use the ribs consciously.

[Springbulbs in reply to Singwell]

Many thanks for this. Very useful.

[Singwell in reply to Springbulbs]

The upper surface of your diaphragm amd the inner surface of your ribcage are all 'connected' to the outer surface of your lungs via a clever system known as pleural linkage. So I'm thinking if you move the ribs on the right hand side then it might encourage the diaphragm to move as well and also.help you fill the lungs with the amount of breath you need. I can recommend an excellent breath practitioner who's also an osteopath if things don't improve.

[Fastbeat]

My ablation was abandoned due to phrenic nerve damage in 2017,it took about 1year to completely heal,also touch wood the amount of ablation completed has left me with a better quality of life albeit now in permanent AF.Wishing you well.

[Springbulbs in reply to Fastbeat]

Thanks for sharing, sorry to hear yours took so long to improve. Wishing you well too.

[SB2352]

I had my ablation last February and was told I had the same issue. I had a chest X ray in June and it was reported as normal but I am not certain that it is as I am still very breathless with exercise. I had an echo in November but no results yet. The ablation it seems was successful as I have had no more prolonged episodes of AF, although I do have episodes of ectopy. My cardiologist says I would need further investigation (moving XRay?) to see if my diaphragm is moving properly. I think I have become used to it so it’s not easy to be sure what it’s doing. It’s certainly put me off having a repeat procedure.

[Springbulbs in reply to SB2352]

I know what you mean,I would have to carefully weigh up the pros and cons before having a repeat procedure. Even though you are warned about possible complications of the procedure you always believe it won't happen to you!However my AF so far has improved so I'm very grateful for that. 🙂

[Singwell in reply to SB2352]

Have a look at my responses to the OP and see if they might be helpful Maybe a session with a breath practitioner might help. Btw that's not me self promoting 😉

[SB2352 in reply to Singwell]

Thank you.

[SB2352]

I do hope you continue to improve. I was told it’s a 1 in 400 complication - it had to be me!

[Snowgirl65]

My EP damaged my phrenic nerve during my first ablation -- my diaphragm stopped working for about a minute during the procedure. It came back and he continued on with the ablation. I had to have a special test run before I went home, but all was well. I read that a damaged phrenic nerve does eventually right itself, but unfortunately I don't remember much more about it. I certainly hope yours heals quickly.

[Springbulbs in reply to Snowgirl65]

Thank you 🙂

[Peacefulneedshelp]

I did a search as was suggested as I wanted to know more about the nerve your mentioned. I came up with nothing regarding that particular nerve. It may be better to search the internet and find a good website for medical issues you trust. it is the nerve that controls the diaphragm and breathing, could be why your short of breath. Find out from your doctors what they plan on doing to help you with that.

[EngMac]

I saw a heart thoracic surgeon comments who said sometimes an operation to tighten the side of the diaphragm that is affected may help. When ablations are done from inside the heart, the person doing the ablation cannot see the nerve, which is very close to the heart, and thus can sometimes damage it. I suspect this happens more when the person doing the ablation is less experienced or is too aggressive with the ablation procedure. Or maybe some nerves are closer to the heart and are more easily damaged.