Post-sternotomy pain syndrome 15 months after my cardiac surgery.

[Bertha99]

Hello All

I am a 58-year-old male (My handle Bertha99was my gran) and am still experiencing post-sternotomy pain syndrome 15 months after my cardiac surgery. I am writing in the hope that someone can refer me to a Pain Management practitioner who specialises in Chest Wall pain around the left breast, left rib pain post bypass surgery and left cheek spasms.

I am confident that this lingering pain that I am experiencing which is also painful to the touch is nothing to do with my heart. I have had a stress test and MRI Profusion scan since my bypass which were clear, and my doctor has reassured me that it is unlikely to be angina. However, the fact is that these pains are very real and deliberating on a daily basis and because the chest pain mimics heart symptoms it is all very stressful.

My understanding from Dr Google is that this is most likely to be post-sternotomy pain syndrome following cardiac surgery. From what I have read the symptoms around the left chest wall are probably related to injury to the anterior branches of the intercostal nerves at the site of the IMA graft harvesting. I guess the left rib cage pain is from the breakage of my ribs. Not sure about the cheek pain.

I read that removal of the sternal wire, that is still in my chest can alleviate the chest wall symptoms.

I went to my GP with the problem, but it seems that there are generalist pain management specialists rather than specialist chest wall pain management specialists. There appear to be a lot of studies done in this area on groups of bypass patients but obviously these are reported without Doctor’s names listed.

I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this horrible after-pain and how they handled the pain management. if you know of any specialists in this pain management area, that would be excellent. I am happy to travel in the UK.

Kind regards

Mike

[Bertha99]

Hi again, I would also add that in addition to the ongoing pain over the last 15 months, I have also experienced what feels like a chest infection the last month. But the GP cannot find any obvious sign of an infection. Not sure if this is connected to the post sternotomy pain. Thanks - Mike

[JulianM]

Where in the UK are you? I've not experienced any of this, yet, but I'm very interested because I have a planned sternotomy coming up, hopefully in the new year, for aortic surgery, at a London teaching hospital. I want to get back to exercise and sport afterwards, and this kind of pain would be one complication I could do without. My interrogation of Dr Google has yielded some positive studies in the area of cryoanalgesia, basically using injections to freeze and block intercostal nerves. Sometimes, this has even been done prior to surgery, to reduce post-operative pain and enable a faster return to everyday activities. I'm planning to discuss this with my surgeon ... Keep looking and asking questions!

[Cornz]

What is the update on your condition and your quest to find help with the pain? I'm really interested because I had bypass surgery 3 months ago and seem to be suffering from the same chest pains as you. I have also read something about Post Sternotomy Pain Syndrome but have not discussed this with the cardiologist. I have been scheduled for a stress echogram in three weeks time.