Heart Cath questions

[jama]

My 85 yo father had tests done yesterday that said he had a blockage in an artery going to the heart. He is scheduled for a heart cath and either use a balloon or will put in a stent. He is in great health otherwise...very active....in fact his symptoms were that he got winded walking from one end of Disney to the other after all day at the parks
And when the Dr. told him he couldn't drive home after the cath, he said he guessed he would just walk home then.
Anyway, can anyone share their experiences and advice on heart cath procedures?

 

[Geoff_M]

I'm assuming that there are different types of heart cath procedures. Mine was not an out-patient procedure. I had a very minor heart attack over a year ago. They needed to do angioplasty on me to remove some clouts and clean out a couple of odd-shaped veins that I now know I have in my heart. They "went in" inside my thigh for the procedure. They gave me a IV drip sedative to "take the edge off" plus a local at the entry site. I had to stay immobile on my back for 12 hours until the entry site healed enough that they weren't worried that I'd bleed out. I wasn't allowed to walk for about a day afterward.

 

[LivelyLissa]

A lot depends on the procedure, what they find when they get in there and who they stop the bleeding (if they "sandbag" the leg or plug it).

Stents are putting open heart surgeons out of business slowly but surely. The only problem is sometimes those clot as well and they have to redo the procedure.

Overall, the procedure is quick and much lower risk than traditional surgery...that being said, I always tell friends and family to NEVER have a cath in a hospital without an open heart program. If something does go bad I'd hate for someone to have to get flown out to have interventions. When things to bad on the table, they go bad fast.

 

[ols386]

My SO had a heart cath done this past May. He had been having chest pains and shortness of breath. He is 50 years old, a smoker, doesn't necessarily eat the healthiest diet in the world, and drinks alcohol most evenings. They did a stress test and it came back abnormal, so then they did the heart cath. He had it done around 5:00 one evening, and then was able to go home that same night around 10:30 pm. The heart cath showed NO blockage, despite all his bad habits. They didn't put him under with general anesthesia, but did give him medication through an iv to make him groggy. He doesn't remember anything at all about the procedure. He hasn't had any health problems since then, so not sure what was going on, the doctor said it could have been stress related. He got along very well after the catherization, and did have to stay home from work for a week afterwards (his job is very physical, probably if he had a desk job, he might have been able to go back to work sooner).

 

[jama]

A lot depends on the procedure, what they find when they get in there and who they stop the bleeding (if they "sandbag" the leg or plug it).

Stents are putting open heart surgeons out of business slowly but surely. The only problem is sometimes those clot as well and they have to redo the procedure.

Overall, the procedure is quick and much lower risk than traditional surgery...that being said, I always tell friends and family to NEVER have a cath in a hospital without an open heart program. If something does go bad I'd hate for someone to have to get flown out to have interventions. When things to bad on the table, they go bad fast.

That is very true!..He will be at the local small hospital...300 bed..they do have an open heart program..but have only done something over 5,000 cases since 1989.
One thing I worry a little about is his Dr. just got out of residency last year and he is a "DO" instead of "MD". I also worry because of his age. He was concerned too and avoided going for awhile because he thought he was too old for any type of treatment. But he is not a typical "Old Man"..he does volunteer work 30-40 hours a week, active in church, travels, walks 2-3 miles a day on treadmill, etc.
I don't know how they control bleeding..is one method preferred?