Hello fellow survivors! I had my PED surgery for my ophthalmic/carotid aneurysm 12.11.14. I had a rough recovery with the groin site, being very VERY painful. (I apparently have small vessels). My question-the 6 month follow up, did all of you have a groin angio? Or a CTA? Or MRA? AND I have a 2 year old and a 1 year old, if you had the groin angio, what were the lifting restrictions? (My mom had open brain surgery for her aneurysm and had an CTA at her 6 month follow up.....I like that option best! Due to my extremely wild babies).
I had a rupture of the closure device in my groin about 3 hours after my PED placement .... I agree with you ... it was painful!!!! The bruising and swelling lasted a long time (Plavix). The groin bleed was actually the longest and most frustrating part of my recovery. My 6 month AND my 12 month followup angios were through the same groin vessel BUT the catheter is so much smaller than the original that I had no problems afterwards. Angiogram is best way to followup PED placement. I will have another followup angio at two years (to be on the safe side, I am told) even though my aneurysm was gone at one year followup. I think I had a lifting restriction for one week after each followup angio.
Hi Christina. I’m sorry to hear that you had issues with your angios. My PEDs were placed 4 years ago, at the end of this month. Hard to believe but that time flew! I believe the standard is that a 6 month angiogram is done to ensure that the PED has correctly embedded itself into and taken over for the artery, that the aneurysm is no longer filling with blood, and that there are no clotting issues. It is due to those issues not being present, as to why most are taken off of the plavix at the 6 month mark. If there is an issue with clotting (and we’ve have had members who have had to stay on plavix longer than 6 months), or if there is an issue with the PED not being properly encased by the artery (such as with the aneurysm not being fully occluded and/or still filling with blood) than the patient is most likely to stay on Plavix for a time after. Altrue reading of those issues cannot be seen completely by a CTA or MRA.
I honestly don’t remember my restrictions after the 6 month angio, but I’m kind of thinking that, like A.M. stated, it was probably a week. Also, I had 3 angios (a failed coiling, the PED placement and 6 month follow up) but was lucky in that I didn’t have any issues with them.
I did not have an angio at 1 year, but I believe my surgeon did say yearly MRAs and an angio at 5 years if all went well. I’ll be having my 4th yearly MRA soon, so I’ll know better once that is completed.
I hope you can get through it this time with little or no pain. Please keep us posted.
I had my PED in 2013 & still on plavix & asprin, my Neuro will not do any angios after my PED because I have FMD & it is to risky, I have CTA to check mine…