My partner is booked in for mitral valve repair in 3 weeks or so. Yesterday he went in for an angiogram, he had a catheter fitted and waited for 5 hours, only to be sent home because they turned out to be too busy with emergencies to carry out the procedure.
The thing is, the site where the catheter was inserted is really quite swollen above the entry point, and very bruised. He says it hurt quite a lot, not during insertion but after about 15 minutes, and remained uncomfortable until it was removed. It's still painful now, and I'm not sure whether the swelling is increasing or not. It's not infection, it's not red or hot. He rang the hospital who advised him to visit the doctor, so he went to the surgery and was seen by a nurse who said 'Hmmm, I'm not sure".
So, anyone had this? Will it just go down on its own? He's on apixaban blood thinners, by the way.
Written by
LaverneH
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I had the angiogram, didn't have to wait. The site didn't swell but the pain during the angiogram was not what I expected, my arm went into spasm it was really painful. The arm was sore and painful for 3 weeks. I k now it's not what you asked but this is what happened to me. Everyone that I have heard of having an angiogram has never had any pain.
I had pain after the angiogram and the site was really sore. If you’re worried call your cardio nurse. The cardio team are the best ones to speak to as they’re dealing with this all the time. Hope it settles soon and your partner gets the treatment soon.
With my first angiogram I had no swelling but had massive bruising the whole lower arm from wrist to elbow. I had pain the whole time they were doing it- just in the lower arm. It did go away but took weeks. The second one, there wasn't even a tiny mark.
My wrist was also badly bruised and swollen after an angiogram. It was really tender and black and blue for a few weeks after. It was summer and looked awful so plenty of people commented about it! That said, I was relieved that my arteries were clear and the arm healed of its own accord.
After my angiogram my arm was tender afterwards, partly it took them 7 catheters to check all the vessels out ! It was most uncomfortable as my vessel was in spasm, I needed sedation to complete the procedure I found that paracetamol definitely helped.
The key thing that you mentioned was that your husband takes apixiban, which as it is a blood thinner therefore your husband will be prone to more than average bruising and swelling.
Suggest to your husband that he has his arm elevated on a couple of cushions as that helps reduce swelling. If the arm does to improve after 48hrs seek advice probably best from the centre your husband attended. The bruising will look very impressive due to the blood thinners. Hope everything settles down but the bruising will take time to fade.
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