Heart triple bypass warning

[horac]

Heart Triple Bypass Warning

IF you have a triple bypass with your breast bone wired together (standard process) be careful and do not do exercises such as rowing or that stretch the chest. The NHS had me doing these and it broke my wires and I can find no one in the UK with experience of putting right the resulting gap between the halves of my breast bone and the epigastric hernia. BE VERY CAREFUL it was 12 months after my op that this "dehiscence" became apparent and I still suffer my chest movement and my hernia 2.5 years later; and still looking for a good surgeon to put it right !

[MichaelJH Heart Star]

A disjoint in the breastbone following OHS (open heart surgery) is rare but does occur. One person in rehab suffered with this and often the cause is an underlying infection. The wires are only to hold the breastbone in place while it heals - indeed some people have them removed for reasons of discomfort/infection/vanity (the latter more common in the US sometimes followed by plastic surgery).

One method of repair is a plate that goes over the joint and is screwed to each half. Obviously any bone or tissue infection needs addressing. Chase your GP or cardiologist.

[horac in reply to MichaelJH]

Michael. I have seen about 6 different surgeons in the Uk and they all had no experience of dehiscence (mine is luckily not infected - yet). They all had different ideas and one said a plate was too risky since screwing into the sternum a mm too far might damage the heart. I have 2 options; I am writing to UCLH London about minimal invasive surgery using a clamp/strap at top and bottom of my sternum (my idea) and a retainer for my epigastric hernia. Alternately Johns Hopkins Hospital Baltimore USA have an online 6 page article on uninfected dehiscence over 10 years with 49 patients; clearly they have experience, so I am writing to them also. I seem very rare in the UK and the surgeons lack experience. If they had more go wrong they might device a better method than wiring which seems to have a poor recommendation. I seem to be ignored by my GPs who do not know what to do? My first NHS consultant said he would not be doing anything about it! A case of patient heal yourself?

[emjay18]

I had a CABG that left the end of some wire visible at the front of my top rib. Whether this is a tracer wire or a lashing I do not know. It was done three years ago. When I resumed my gardening and construction activities I got pains across the front of the upper half of my chest. So I stopped them and also took care not to get into any press-up positions. Now, after another year I do not seem to be getting such pains. At my BHF linked exercise sessions I do one alternate handed press-ups against the wall. No pain now. Good luck.