Punctured lung

I am a very active skinny 78 year old with no real med problems. Found out I needed a pacemaker when I almost passed out a few times. I was a willing subject. Not a bit nervous about the procedure. Everyone I know has one with no problems.

I went into surgery and awoke with a drain tube in my side because my lung had been punctured, oxygen on, terrible (8) pain in my upper arm and terrible abdominal pain if I coughed or laughed,

Dr told me he pierced my lung, I coughed during surgery and he also had to do a broncoscopy (I was throwing up blood) during procedure and continued throw up blood that night. I also was spitting up clots of blood Dr. Said i would be spitting up blood for a month but it was just a couple of days.

The pain in my arm continued after leaving the hospital I asked for x Rays which found nothing 3 weeks after my surgery the arm feels better. What happened? Any clues? How does your lung get punctured?

2 Comments

Luck of the draw ?

by IAN MC - 2015-09-21 04:09:48

Hi Moonstruck Unfortunately , although most people have no problems whatsoever with PM implant surgery there are risks involved and it depends on how lucky you are and how skilful the doctor is at doing implants.

Theoretically it should be an easy procedure sticking a lead into the vein under the collar bone but the lung is VERY near to the point where the lead is inserted and, in your case, the Dr inadvertently nicked your lung .

What then happened to you was that air escaped from your lung into the chest cavity ; this can cause the lung to partially collapse and they then sometimes have to introduce a tube to suck out the air.

Apparently this is more likely to happen with obese patients because the entry point for the lead is harder to identify but you say that you are "skinny" so I can't help but conclude that your Dr is not very good at doing PM implants !

You should be completely recovered by now and I hope that you are.

I have spoken to technicians who often sit in / assist at PM implants and they have all told me that some Drs are much better at doing PM implants than others.

But there are possible risks with any surgery as you know. I guess the most important thing is that you are no longer having those feelings of nearly passing out !

Best of luck

Ian

Pneumothorax

by Zetha - 2015-09-25 07:09:13

HI Moonstruck, I am new to all of this, 3 weeks with PM. My cardiologists warned me of all the possible risks and one of these risks is pneumothorax/collapsed lung. I am thin, MY dr said it is more of a risk in thin patients. In my case there was no problem and it is as Ian above has said, the area where dr works on the pacemaker is also at the site of the left lung.

Fortunately you are recovering..... being thin and fit counts in a person's favour with most medical procedures!

Good luck!

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