Cardiac Catheterization on Feb 18th...what should I expect?

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mrichardson

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 2, 2016
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64
Location
Near Dallas, TX
So the doctor has decided that before my pulmonic valve replacement surgery that I need a cardiac catheterization. Not sure what they're checking for.

This makes me wonder how long after the cardiac cath I'm going to have my surgery. This thing's been hanging over my head since the doctor recommended it in November or so of 2015.

So I'm curious if anyone else has had this, and what I should expect before/during/after.

Based on what I've seen/read, I won't be able to move during the procedure, which will last 45 minutes to an hour. Afterward, I'll have to spend another 3-4 hours there at the hospital before being discharged. Thankfully, I have a job where I can work remotely, so the next day I can just work at home.

So, anyone been through this? What's been your experience?
 
I had one in July 2014 that went in through my femoral artery, I believe some go through the wrist. They're checking to see if you're arteries are clear enough for the surgery and if not then it's something else they'll have to deal with. I didn't find it too bad , I watched the surgeon fish the little wire through the arteries that injects the dye and watched it come out, I think you can opt out of that if you want. They keep you there and keep pressure on the area to make sure all is well. I couldn't drive home because if I stomped on the brake it could "blow out" and that would be that.
 
I had to do this before my AVR surgery because I couldn't complete the 64-slice CT scan. I believe generally what they're looking for is to get the most detailed look at your heart possible, in order to make sure there aren't any signs of issues or disease that might not have shown up on previous scans and tests or that they might have missed. The last thing a surgeon wants during surgery is a surprise, so they're just trying to make sure their information is as accurate as possible before they do the big operation.

I was scared before my cardiac cath, because I didn't like the fact that I would be conscious during the procedure. I was afraid I would panic or something. Luckily they know what they're doing; while you will be conscious you will be so heavily sedated you probably won't really care what's going on. If you're nervous when you go in, while you're waiting for the meds to kick in I suggest focusing your attention on something totally unrelated -- a happy memory, a favorite movie or song, whatever it takes to keep distracted.

During my procedure, I mentally recited a handful of poems I know over and over again so I didn't think about what was going on. It helped a lot. My procedure took longer than normal (not sure why because they didn't find anything bad, maybe because my aortic aneurysm was already so bad) so I think my sedatives started to wear off because I remember asking the doctor if it was normal to be able to feel something funny in my leg (they went through the artery in my groin rather than my arm). The doctor said it was totally fine and then told one of the nurses to increase my sedatives. In seconds I was back in la-la land. :)

For me the hardest part wasn't actually the procedure but the waiting after, which I think was a full four hours for me. It doesn't sound so bad but you can't move much at all (and yes, cldlhd is right, they keep pressure on the area for quite some time to make sure the artery doesn't pop or anything) and once the sedatives start wearing off it can get real uncomfortable real quick. I remember at some point I really had to use the toilet but I kept trying to hold it because until the four hours were up I wasn't supposed to get up and I really, REALLY didn't want to use a bedpan. When I finally did get to get up and go I still had to have my mom help me because I was having trouble walking (and getting up and sitting down were the hardest). Needless to say I wasn't in a good mood.

Your leg is gonna be sore, and the bruising probably ain't gonna be pretty. My bruise took up like a quarter of my inner thigh and looked a bit like dark blue, black and red paint dripping down my leg. Some people may bruise more than others; I am very fair-skinned so it showed up more for me than it might for other people. It might take awhile to go away, too, but you should at least be back on your feet soon enough.
 
I was told the cardiac cath was the gold standard for checking out the arteries. I liked being awake I just tried to become interested in the procedure from a technical point of view to occupy my attention. The wait after wasn't too bad as both nurses who applied pressure were pretty attractive and of course my wife was right there .
 
i was told it's done cause *IF* there was any finding of coronary disease they would also plan to do a bypass or graft while they're in there. it would also automatically make it a mandatory sternotomy.
 
I had one on a Monday, with surgery that Thursday (the surgeon requested it the Friday before, as he wanted a better view of everything I suppose). The only difficult part was getting the initial IV! They blew all my veins. First time in my life they had to give me something to relax me so they could get the IV in (used my hand). Went through my leg for cardiac cath because I have tiny wrists, so the doctor could not go through my wrist. The only thing I recall is the first 5 minutes, when he showed me something on a screen. Then, I woke up later. I worked from home the next day. I could not have driven to work. My leg hurt - going up and down stairs hurt a bit as well. But I was fine the following day.
 
Hi, had mine 6th October last year, as its been said they are looking for blockages in the supply to heart muscle , I had 2 minor ones that didn't need intervention. I was told if they did find blockages that needed stents then these would be done at the same time.
I was able to watch the screen and found it much more fascinating than frightening, I could feel the tube moving across my chest and hear the squirt as the contrast was injected, nothing scary.. very cool. Only issue I had was (went in my wrist) they were busy looking at the screen rather than me and my arm dropped off the table which did some damage to the artery, so I'd say just be aware of this, I should have been but was watching "catheter tv" instead :)
Also I over used my arm a week later which caused issues (clots)so for me I should have taken it easy for a bit longer still.
 
Thanks everyone! This really has been weighing on my mind for the past few days. At this point, I'm more worried about my rambunctious son "jumping" on me, rather than anything else going wrong. I've also read somewhere that when I get home, and the next day, I'm supposed to basically just sit. I can get up to eat, drink, and use the bathroom, but that's it.

So I'm guessing, then, that my surgery won't be too long after this procedure.
 
Well it depends. I had my cath in July 2014 and my surgery in February 2015. They did tell me that the results are only considered valid for so long so if I didn't get the surgery I'd need another cath.
 
If you have the option, ask them to use the new-style "plug" closure for their entry point. When I had my pre-op cath, they closed with some sort of plug, which dissolves over several weeks. This way, although I did need to stay still for a couple of hours, there were no sand bags on my leg, and I was up and around much faster than otherwise.

I'll be honest -- before my surgery, I feared the cath more than the surgery itself. This turned out to be totally unfounded. I was kept "out of it" through the procedure, but not completely. I could feel nothing, but I could hear the doc and staff. I just didn't care about much while I was there. I remember at one point I raised my head to look at one of the screens and I heard the doc say something like "Looks like it is time for more happy juice. See you later."

I had my cath on a Friday, was up and around some over the weekend, and went back to work the next Monday.
 
Mine was done about a month before surgery for the reasons other folks have already stated. It provides the surgeon with a road map for the surgery. My cardiologist went through my forearm. I was awake during the procedure, though I had some type of anaesthesia intravenously. I couldn't really see the screen but the doctor talked to me as he looked everything over. I had some blockage; one artery was 70% blocked and was scheduled for a bypass. No aneurysm was detected. My son accompanied me so I didn't have to drive myself home. I had a GP doctor appt. the next day and drove myself to that. I had blood drawn for that appt. and had to tell the nurse about the incision in my forearm so she wouldn't tourniquet that arm to draw blood.

I was more anxious about the TEE I'd had done 2 months earlier to diagnose the severity of my aortic stenosis because I have strong gag reflexes.
 
That was certainly a...unique...experience. At one point, it felt like the doctor actually hit my hip bone. He's like, "Oh, that's a nerve."

But it seemed like I could almost feel the catheter being threaded up to my heart. Pressure, sure, but no pain. A very odd sensation, especially in my chest, and at one point in my abdomen. Also very odd when they injected the contrast. It's like my whole chest went warm, then my groin did. A very odd sensation, indeed. I was discharged just after 5 PM, and aside from getting motion sick in the car on the way home, and having (surprisingly) very little appetite, so far I've had no ill effects.
 
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