Ask a Texas Heart Institute Doctor
Informed patients make better patients.
Question:
What is causing this post-surgery pressure on my chest?
I had heart bypass surgery in March, 2003 (age 59 then). Ever since then, I feel pressure on my chest at times, mostly before sleeping at night. My surgeon told me at the time of surgery that this is quite normal and the pressure (but no pain) would go away in a couple of years. It is now seven years since the surgery but I still feel the pressure on my chest. It is bearable and my current cardiologist says I should not worry about it. I am reasonably active at 66 (jog two miles and walk two miles every day) and my last treadmill stress test was normal. What is causing this pressure on the chest and do I have to live with this for the rest of my life? Is there something that I or my cardiologist can do ?
submitted by Janak from Carson City, Nevada on 3/10/10
Answer:
by Texas Heart Institute cardiologist, Atasu K. Nayak, MD
Thanks for the mail. Localized musculoskeletal pain is common after surgery. Usually it gets better in a year or so. Because your stress test is normal and exercise tolerance is good, you are doing good from a heart disease point of view. Please consult your heart surgeon about this localized pain. Thanks.
See also on this site:
Has your question or a similar one already been answered?
Search all the Heart Doctor questions and answers.
| Heart Information Center services are made possible in part by a generous gift from the Hamill Foundation. |
Updated March 2010
