After bypass Surgery

[Ashandoak]

My husband had bypass surgery in November 2022. The process was successful but sadly they damaged his ulna nerve and he lost use of his right hand and has had severe nerve pain in the right arm.

We are wondering how common nerve damage is following bypass surgery and whether other people have experienced similar. My husband is being followed up but finding it a long journey and not something he anticipated.

[Hidden]

Hello

I am so sorry to read your Husband has been left with nerve damage the loss of his right hand and in pain

Regretfully with these operations sometimes things can go wrong even though rare they do and personally I have not come across anyone that this has happened to even though when someone else reads your post they may do

I am glad his recovery is going well despite this happening and I really hope they soon start to follow this up and there is something they can do

I wish I could be more help and it would be nice if you have time if you updated us on how he is getting on x

[devonian186]

Nerve damage is normal due to the way they need to carry out the heart surgery. I still have tingles nearly a year on and sometimes a brief sharper pain. It must be very discouraging for your husband but it is still relatively early days in his recovery.

If the treatment he is receiving is part of a plan that he has been made aware of, then stick with it. if not, you need to ask what happens next and when. If you have a registered physiotherapist in your area it might be worth consulting them if the help you get from the NHs is only passive.

[CyclingTime]

Hi there, I am 14 months post surgery now and still have low level pain in my lower left wrist and in to the soft pad below your thumb, which is much tighter than it should be

Consultant said they wouldn't do anything for that unless in a lot more pain and to get some physio organised.

Sorry to hear about the loss of the use of the arm, certainly no one made me aware at all of that being a risk when harvesting the vein from my arm!

[Sljp0000]

Hi

I'm sorry your husband had lost the use of his hand. How very upsetting for him. Has he spoken to the surgeon about nerve reconstruction surgery?

I had a triple heart bypass in September. It failed within two weeks. My Phrenic nerve was damaged/severed during the surgery and I now have a paralysed left sided diaphragm which means I get very little air in my left lung. I am seeing the Thoracic surgeons in April to discuss the way forward and they did say they might be able to repair the nerve.

I had my left radial artery (left forearm) harvested for one of the grafts. My thumb, forefinger and some of my hand is still extremely numb. They told me to give it some more time but if it becomes a problems they can give meds to help with the severe pins and needles if that helps?

I would certainly go back to your heart surgeon and ask them for a referral to a nerve specialist to look at your husband's arm. They should care about his onward treatment when they've caused the damage.

Let us know how he gets on.

All the best

Susie x