Quoted:
My father went in last Thursday for a heart catheterization. If needed, the doctor was supposed to put in any stints that would be required. We found out after the procedure that the doctor messed up and put in to much dye in and this supposedly prevented him from putting any stints in and made it hard to see how bad the blood vessels were clogged. So, it pretty much was a wasted test.
Now, fast forward to Saturday. My dad's leg that the catheter was put into has started to swell up just below his groin (where the tube was inserted). Today it was really swollen to the point you couldn't tell the difference between the leg, knee or ankle. It looked like a big sausage. Also, he complained of a pinching feeling just above his knee. He was going to just wait to go to the doctor on Monday or Tuesday, but I insisted that it could be a blood clot, that he could die from it, and that he need to go to the ER ASAP!! He finally broke down and went. Well, come to find out, he has a blood clot down by his foot and an aneurysm up by his knee. (where the pinching feeling was) He will be going into surgery soon to get it fixed. They said that if it burst, he would have died.
So, my question is this; Is any of this normal after a heart cath? Could it be caused by the cath? Or, could this be caused by something the doctor messed up? (We found out from others after my dad's procedure, that this doctor is known for messing up and possible causing deaths of others.) What should we be thinking about this? I'm just glad that I got him to go to the ER. His stubbornness to not go could have killed him.
Any info is appreciated!!!
Kris
It's difficult to give advice when the information you're giving us is 3rd or 4th hand, but:
1) How is putting too much dye going to make it
more difficult to visualize the cardiac blood vessels? My sense is the catheter caused some vasospasm and so there was no way to tell what areas were narrowed by cholesterol plaque (and could use a stent) vs. a small area of vasospasm that does not need a stent.
2) A blood clot in the leg is in the deep
veins. It was likely caused by him not moving the leg much because he had the catherization and wanted that to heal up. You were smart to kick his ass to the ER because, as you know, a clot from a leg vein can lodge in the lung and cause death ie. pulmonary embolism.
3) Aneurysm by the knee? The cardiac catheter goes in the opposite direction ie. from the groin and up so it really couldn't have caused the aneurysm by the knee.