Residual Nerve Block Effects After Minimally Invasive OHS

[Still Ticking]

I am a 68 year old male who had minimally invasive OHS 9 weeks ago for a mitral valve repair. My recovery had gone quite well but one strange remnant of my surgery has to do with the “nerve block” they used to deaden the right side of my chest where they entered to do the minimally invasive surgical procedure. Nine weeks after surgery I don’t experience any pain but my right hand chest from just below the pectoral muscle to a few inches below the bottom of the front of my rib cage is still pretty numb. I had two post surgery consultations about a month after my surgery and they were contradictory on this point. One said that the nerve block should wear off within two months (which it hasn’t). The other seemed surprised at this assessment and said it could linger for many months.

This is more of a nuisance than anything else but was wondering what other persons with similar surgery have experienced. Also is there any kind of physical activity (i.e. stretches or exercise) which help or diminish the residual effects of this nerve block or for that matter make it worse? Thanks in advance for your thoughts/advice.

 

[Zoltania]

That sounds about like the location of my numb spot, which extends from my right-side incision up a couple of inches on the underside of my right breast. I don't think it's from a nerve block, but I assume it's nerve damage caused during the surgery. It has lasted for nine years and counting, but it's not an issue for me.

I also have a numb patch on my upper inner left thigh, near where the femoral catheter went in. I assume that's also nerve damage. Bodies are strange.

 

[ncw3642]

I am a 68 year old male who had minimally invasive OHS 9 weeks ago for a mitral valve repair. My recovery had gone quite well but one strange remnant of my surgery has to do with the “nerve block” they used to deaden the right side of my chest where they entered to do the minimally invasive surgical procedure. Nine weeks after surgery I don’t experience any pain but my right hand chest from just below the pectoral muscle to a few inches below the bottom of the front of my rib cage is still pretty numb. I had two post surgery consultations about a month after my surgery and they were contradictory on this point. One said that the nerve block should wear off within two months (which it hasn’t). The other seemed surprised at this assessment and said it could linger for many months.

This is more of a nuisance than anything else but was wondering what other persons with similar surgery have experienced. Also is there any kind of physical activity (i.e. stretches or exercise) which help or diminish the residual effects of this nerve block or for that matter make it worse? Thanks in advance for your thoughts/advice.

Hi!

I cannot fully relate to your specific situation as I had a mini-sternotomy however I do have significant numbness bilaterally on my chest right above my nipple line.

From what I know treating post-surgical patients in the hospital as a physical therapist, usually numbness from nerve blocks last ~1-3 days (unless your body just handles it differently- but point being it’s fairly short acting).

I would agree with @Zoltania to me, it sounds more like nerve damage. Anytime you make an incision you have to cut past not just your skin and fat/muscle tissue but also nerves. When nerves get damaged, you can have the symptoms you are describing. Again, in my experience after talking to our surgeons and neurologists is, anything that is nerve damage related has a period of ~1-year to rebound back to normal. Any residual deficits after this, likely are permanent.

Seeing as you are only 9-weeks post, there’s a chance your nerves can heal in the coming months and have some restoration of the sensation. Unfortunately, it’s not likely to be spinal cord compression related otherwise I would suggest stretching (however stretching the pectorals and neck/upper traps never hurts- so long as you’ve been cleared to do so) but I think in this case, it’s more of a ‘watch, wait, let the body heal’ circumstance and hope for the best.

 

[tom in MO]

I had a full sternotomy. I had the same numbness. When I asked, I wasn't told about any "nerve block" but was told it was nerve damage caused by the surgery and that it should go away. It did but it took awhile. I don't fully recall, but I think I was told it happens if they cut through a nerve node.

 

[V__]

my right hand chest from just below the pectoral muscle to a few inches below the bottom of the front of my rib cage is still pretty numb.

I also had the minimally-invasive MVr. My numb spot was localized just at the largest incision site. It is practically gone now. The transition seems to have happened about 1.5 years after the surgery. I did start to use "exfoliating" shower gloves a few months prior. (This seems to stimulate skin quite strongly.) And I've been walking with handweights all along, lifting them on every step (*). But, of course, being "a sample of one" I cannot be sure if any of these actions helped at all.

The weights are light, but it's thousands of steps on every walk... so thousands of weighted arm motions. I see the effect on the arms. Probably helps the chest as well.

 

[SSJ4]

I had a full sternotomy with my valve replacement nine months ago and I can still feel some of the numbness in the right pectoral muscle area. I asked about it around 3 months after surgery and my cardiologist told me that it was from where the nerves were cut during surgery. Said some get it on the right side and others on the left. He also said it will get better but may never completely go away. It bothered me when exercising for a while but it is almost gone now.

 

[slipkid]

I like others have mentioned believe what you are describing is nerve damage from the operation. If so, whether or not it ever goes away is anyone's guess.

I had my operation about 10 years ago. Was left with weird partial numbness on left pectoral area. It is not "numb", it has feeling, but the feeling is very odd. Hard to describe but anything that touches me there, including a shirt, feels like very strange pressure/rubbing. Has not gone away or decreased and don't expect it to. Has been something odd to just get used to.

I have the same issue with the inside of my right leg below the knee where I have nerve damage as well, because they opened me up down there and removed part of a vein to use in one of my bypasses. Actually thinking more about it I was told they also took part of an "artery" (???? I never understood what artery that could be) out of the left pectoral area and used that for another bypass. (I had a double bypass done at same time as my aortic valve was replaced)

 

[V__]

Actually thinking more about it I was told they also took part of an "artery" (???? I never understood what artery that could be) out of the left pectoral area and used that for another bypass.

It appears they usually use "internal mammary artery" for the bypass. It's supposed to last longer than veins.

 

[slipkid]

It appears they usually use "internal mammary artery" for the bypass. It's supposed to last longer than veins.

Thanks, had not heard of that, no one ever explained it to me. Wonder why they also used a vein in my leg instead of more of that artery (?).

 

[Still Ticking]

Just thought I would add a quick update. It is now 3 months post surgery and although I still have significant numbness ranging from below my pectoral muscle to a couple inches below my right-hand rib cage, but I am now getting more sensations.

One thing that has changed in the last month is I have done more upper body stretching and some resistance training, and perhaps this has precipitated some of the changes. Again my surgery was a minimally invasive OHS procedure entering from the right side of my chest.

With regards to new sensations, I now occasionally get aches in isolated parts of my right chest which only last a short time. These range from up near my armpit to down where the drainage tubes were inserted and also sometimes near the right-hand part of my sternum. Again, they aren't really painful (which is why I call them aches) and last just a few seconds.

Along the lines of Slipkid, I am also experiencing some more strange sensations. When I take deep breaths or cough it sometimes feels like a slight rubbing against the inside of my right rib cage. No pain, just a rubbing sensation. There is also a tight/numb feeling in the muscle right below the rib cage.

I feel absolutely nothing on the left (heart side) of my rib cage and other than that my recovery is going very well. My only sensations are in the right-hand side of my chest, the side where all the external surgery entry point are located.

So I just thought I would throw that data out there for anyone else who may be experiencing similar sensations. None of these are things I can't easily live with, and I am just happy the rest of my recovery is on track. Hope all is going well with the rest of you.

 

[Chuck C]

Following my OHS, which was a mini-sternotomy, I had some numbness on the front of my neck. It gradually went away over the course of about 3 months. I believe it was nerve damage from the surgery.