heart cath under gen. anesthesia??

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Debbie

Debbie

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 13, 2007
Messages
572
Location
So. California area
Hi all, just talked to my cardio and now I'm getting scared because he told me he'll do the heart cath under general anesthesia. Has anyone had their heart cath. this way??? He said he does this because he'll be looking for blocked artires and will be stenting them if needed. All this is to happen on wed. a week from today and the surgery then on thursday. I've really been working hard on trying not to get nervous and scared about the surgery next week, but now I'm freaking out! Can you guys respond and tell me how your heart cath went. Thank you so much Debbie
 
I had a heart cath last week but not under general anesthesia. I was loopy but awake the whole time. hardest part was laying on my back for 5 hours. Anyway I can not say if they normally do this under general anesthesia. Good luck Earline
 
I have had many heart caths none under a general and have had 7 stents and none were done with a general. I am not understanding why your cardio would put stents in if you were looking at doing a valve surgery in the future. The Plavix and aspirin are the main concerns I would have. Sorry this makes no sense to me.
Kathleen
 
Is there a reason for the doctor to think that you might have a blockage? My cath was under local with something to make me a little loopy, but not much. My doctor also ruled out any blockages, but I think that is standard procedure with a cath before open heart surgery. I guess I can understand why he might want to put any needed stents in prior to the valve surgery because having a blockage could raise your risk of complications after the surgery, but again, I'm not sure that a general is necessary for stents. I think that for whatever reason, some doctors just prefer general anesthesia. When I had foot surgery before my valve surgery, I was scheduled for a general and I questioned it. The doctor told me that most people want to make sure they are completely out, but switched to local with sedation at my request. On the other hand, when I had my wires removed, I was scheduled for local with sedation, and the doctor/anesthesiologist decided to go with general because of the potentional problems with any surgery for patients post-valve surgery.
 
As part of my pre-op procedures, I had an angiogram three days before my initially scheduled surgery. I was told this was to see if I had any arteries that needed work which would either be addressed then or during the valve surgery if a bypass was indicated. My angiogram was performed under "twilight sleep"; I can't remember a thing until I woke up. I was told by my cardiologist that his experience was that people with leaky valves generally have cleaner arteries. The next day, he told me that my arteries were like a 13 year old; I responded I should have eaten more pizza in my youth (although I have really had my fair share of pizza already). :cool:
 
The usual protocol for a Heart Catheterization / Angiogram is "Conscious Sedation" using VERSED which can take you anywhere from 'you don't care' to 'you don't remember', depending on dose. They may also add some Demerol for 'discomfort'.

This same concoction is used by the GI Doc's when performing a Colonoscopy and/or Upper Endoscopy.

Versed has a known amnesia effect which is one of the reasons they require that someone drive you home (and prefer that you stay there for the rest of the day).

'AL Capshaw' (Been There, Done That, Many Times)
 
I was totally awake during mine, just a little 'happy'.
I watched the whole thing on the screen while they did it.
Rich
 
Debbie,

The three heart caths I've had done (including one for a stent) were all done while I was awake, with a local and something to take the edge off. The procedures have all been relatively painless with the worst part IMO being the part were you need to lie flat on you bach for X number of hours until the hole clots off. If your back hurts while lying there don't be afraid to ask for something to help with the pain.

Good luck,
Nick
 
heart cath

heart cath

Thanks everyone for the reply's, I don't understand why he wants to do this, I've never heard of a heart cath under a general. This is making me upset and I'm not going into this whole thing unless understand everything. I'll call the cardio again tomarrow and see what all my options are. Thanks Al for your info. I will ask about that drug. Thanks Debbie
 
surgery

surgery

Left a couple of messages with the doc. yesterday and then he left me a voice mail late saying I could start out with a local but if he needed to do stents he would put me under. My question to everyone again is has anyone been put under as part of the heart cath to put stents in before there valve surgery?? Thanks everyone Debbie
 
Debbie said:
Left a couple of messages with the doc. yesterday and then he left me a voice mail late saying I could start out with a local but if he needed to do stents he would put me under. My question to everyone again is has anyone been put under as part of the heart cath to put stents in before there valve surgery?? Thanks everyone Debbie
Click to expand...

Justin is put out for his. Isn't your card an ACHD one? Maybe they use general for caths more than regular adult heart docs, since many of them also treat kids. He had stents, but since he is usually put out, I don't know if getting stents would have made a difference.
 
I wonder if he really means General Anesthesia or simply means that he will give you enough Versed that you aren't aware of what's going on.

OTOH, for a recent TEE, I was given a fast and short acting anesthetic (along with a low dose of Versed) by a Nurse Anesthesist so maybe this (relatively new) anesthetic is what he means. It does require that an anesthesist be there which is not the usual situation.

'AL Capshaw'
 
Debbie-

I've had ALL my cardiac caths done under general anesthesia. I have never been awake. I've also never heard of someone being awake during a cath. I don't know if that's because I was a kid or what. I'm 21 now and I just had a cath in December for an EP study and I was put under. I'm having another one to close 3 VSDs on Tuesday and I'm getting put under again. And personally I would never want to be awake, maybe that's weird, but I like it better that way. I hope this helps!

-Clare
 
Debbie,
I've only had one cath. Like Al said, I was given versed just like for the colonoscopy. I really like the stuff....
I was awake talking to the nurses and Dr all the time. Watched the screen when the dyes was injected. It's pretty cool looking. Didn't like the pressure applied after, the pressure bandage nor the time on my back before being released.
I didn't need stents but I don't think the proceedure would have changed.
 
heart cath

heart cath

Al, I asked the cardio if he means real general anesthesia or just a high does of versad, and he said the real stuff, there will be a anesthiesologist??spelling:confused: present. Debbie
 
Interesting...

I guess your Cardio just wants to be prepared to do anything that might be required and will have the right people on hand to do it. That sounds like a GOOD Thing.

FWIW, I was 'freaked out' before my First One also.
Afterwards, I had one of those "Is that all there is" kinds of experiences.
I got to the point where I rather enjoyed seeing it all happening!

Heart Patients develop a weird sense of humor :)

You will be fine.

Best Wishes,

'AL Capshaw'
 
My cardiac cath experience

My cardiac cath experience

I had my cardiac cath this past Thursday (St. Peters, Olympia, WA... cardio is Robert Kennedy). About 1 hour prior to procedure, I was given 1 benadryl and 1 valium. When they wheeled me into the procedure room, I was a bit nervous because I was fully awake/aware and I didn't feel like the 2 pills were helping me relax at all. I was having a lively conversation with the nurses and I recall someone telling me that they were going to put something into my IV to help me relax and the next thing I can foggily recall is being wheeled out of the room. I was given a "star stitch" for the incision (or whatever it is they do to you in your groin to insert the cath) and DID NOT have to stay flat on my back after catheterization. In fact, I was released from the hospital about 2 hours after I was wheeled back into the room (my wife picked me up but I'm positive I could have driven home). I had a sore leg for about 24 hours after the cath but it was purely a mild muscular discomfort. I was nervous going in but now that it's done, overall, I'd rate the pain/discomfort factor for this procedure a "3" on the scale of 10... barely a blip on the radar screen of pain. I've had experiences with dentists that have been MUCH MUCH worse! If anyone is in the Olympia, WA area and needs to have a cardiac cath procedure, I can tell you that the nurses (thank you Patty!!!) and other folks at St. Petes will take very good care of you and will help make this a virtually pain free procedure. (Icing on the cake for me... NO blockages found!!).
 
heart cath

heart cath

Hi everyone, thanks for the posts, the reason I was getting nervous was not just the heart cath but all this will be done along with pre-op tests and I'm sure lots of paperwork to do all the day before my surgery. I just think it's alot, they say it's done like this all the time, not to worry. Thanks again everyone for sharing your experiences. DEbbie P.S. I'll arrive at hosptal at 6:00 on wed. for the heart cath and possible stents at 8:30, recover and do all pre-op work. Spend the night, surgery at 7:00 on thursday. LET THE FUN BEGIN :eek: :eek:
 
Debbie:

I was feelin' kinda happy for my heart cath 6/23/03. The entry site was sandbagged for several hours.
My husband had one last February or March and was just sedated. The cardio "plugged" the incision site with a St. Jude Medical device, so he had an easier time of it than I did.

I found the heart cath experience very interesting. In fact, I would not be apprehensive at having a subsequent one. I watched the entire process via a monitor. Would have been boring to get knocked out with a general and then just wake up! But that's me... some people wouldn't want to watch the proceedings.
 
I have had at least three heart caths that I can remember and i was put under general anesthesia for everyone of them. I don't remember even discussing any alternative with the doctors. This was just what they did. Maybe it was because I was a pediatric patient?

Brad
 
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