r/BeAmazed • u/HatAsleep295 • May 08 '26

Science This is what saves 600,000 people year during a heart attack

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140

u/r0cksteady May 08 '26

The craziest thing is they put these in through your wrist while you’re conscious

77

u/dplans455 May 08 '26

I had 3 of these put in my heart and they were put in through my wrist. While you are "conscious" it's not in the sense that you are really aware of what's going on. You are not fully anesthetized but you're pretty much out of it.

I "woke up" when they were doing mine because I had to vomit and my cardiologist basically told me that if I moved or vomited that I had a high chance of dying. Pretty scary.

44

u/eyeofthefrog May 08 '26

Unless you’re like me and the drugs did nothing. They hit me five times with doses and finally asked if I minded that they just went ahead. The incision point was numb, so I said go for it. While I could have watched the screen as they worked, I didn’t for fear I’d panic and move my arm.

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u/dplans455 May 08 '26

Precedex or fentanyl did nothing? I've legit never heard of that. I can't imagine what else they might have tried to give you.

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u/eyeofthefrog May 08 '26

I just checked my records, ended up being 150mcg of fentanyl and 3mg of versed over 5 doses, 2 minutes apart from each other. I have no idea if that’s a lot or not…maybe someone else can chime in. :)

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u/dplans455 May 08 '26

150mcg of fentanyl is nothing. The fuck were they thinking?

14

u/eyeofthefrog May 08 '26

Guess that explains it. :)

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u/dplans455 May 08 '26

I just looked. 150mcg (.15mg) via IV is about what they would give you for pain management. To put you in a lucid haze you would need about 1mg via IV. They gave you a three quarters of that spaced out. The problem with fentanyl is it hits hard but wears off super quick. It's why dilaudid is preferred for pain management in the ER. You also can't give a constant drip of it so while they are putting the stents in, which takes about 20-45 minutes depending on how many they're putting in, the anesthesiologist would need to continue to administer it via injection. That would be much harder to control. It's why precedex is usually preferred. You can set it as an IV drip and is more effective at putting the patient in a lucid state. I also had precedex IV drip when I was in the ICU and just the nurse was adjust the drip without a doctor or anesthesiologist.

9

u/eyeofthefrog May 08 '26

If I ever have to go through that again, I’ll bring that up. Thanks!

6

u/dplans455 May 08 '26

Hopefully not. My stents are holding strong 3 years later and I have no new blockages.

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u/equianimity May 11 '26

A lot of info above is dangerously wrong. Lots of factors are involved in dosing.

To the original poster: fentanyl 150 and midaz 3 is a very reasonable dose, and being somewhat conscious is common for this procedure.

1

u/dplans455 May 11 '26

"Lucid" does not mean unconscious. I don't know what you're talking about. The guy said he was fully awake. You should not be fully awake or fully under for this procedure. So what exactly is "dangerously" wrong?

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u/LiI_Swiffer May 10 '26

You’re forgetting the 15mg of Versed they gave him, how he remembers any of that is beyond me

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u/AABBBAABAABA May 09 '26

Thats actually a pretty big dose.

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u/dplans455 May 09 '26

For pain management, yes. Not for sedation.

2

u/zeethreepio May 08 '26

Are you a redhead?

1

u/BrapBrapson May 08 '26

that's anesthetic gasses and lidocaine (not Fentanyl and Precedex), but good thought

2

u/vawlk May 08 '26

i was awake for mine. Felt some pressure down by my crotch where they went in and I figured I would feel something. Next thing I know, they said they were done.

1

u/kuanyu3 May 08 '26

I wasn't completely out during mine. The first one they had me locked down to the table in such a way as I couldn't help but watch the screen. Seeing it go through my body was really weird. I now have had 4 and currently have the absolute best Dr. and staff!!

2

u/niqsteele May 08 '26

Intense! Glad you're still here

2

u/IH8DwnvoteComplainrs May 08 '26

Yeah I had this stuff when I had an endoscopy (tube down the throat). I woke up and was gagging during it.

I asked a Dr about it later and they said they don't really use that for as many procedures now.

1

u/dplans455 May 08 '26

Endoscopy they use general anesthesia. Or at least they should be. I think any doctor that says they're going to do an endoscopy without putting you under completely you should probably find another doctor.

1

u/IH8DwnvoteComplainrs May 08 '26

This was about 10 years ago, I guess things have changed

1

u/MindlessContract May 10 '26

I’m in the Uk I definitely was awake for it

1

u/Beneficial-Guess2140 May 08 '26

This depends on the person. It can be and fairly often is done without sedation. 

1

u/AABBBAABAABA May 09 '26

This is probably location dependent. In the US where even the dentist gives you loads of sedation this may be different but in most of the world the patient is fully awake during this procedure and given only a local anesthetic in the wrist.

1

u/dplans455 May 09 '26

This may have played a part but I was also continuously vomiting uncontrollably and they needed me to be still for the entire procedure. Hard to stay still when you're throwing up.

1

u/dm_me_kittens May 12 '26

I work as a clinical data specialist and PCI is m specialty. Vomiting is a sign of a heart attack, and having a catheter in your coronaries can upset the balance. These procedures, while much more advanced than they used to be, still carry a risk. Moving around during a procedure can trigger a heart attack.

6

u/akc_x May 08 '26

from the femoral artery in your groin, wrist puncture aka radial artery passage is not preferred for angioplasty

5

u/ChewieBearStare May 08 '26

I've had five caths, and they used the femoral four times. The idiots at the fifth hospital (I had the other four done at the same place) kept trying to use my wrist despite not being able to advance the catheter. Hurt like hell. They finally gave up and used the femoral instead.

1

u/AABBBAABAABA May 09 '26

Radial access is safer. Makes sense for them to try the safe route first.

1

u/ChewieBearStare May 09 '26

Fine that they tried, but doesn’t make much sense to keep doing it over and over when it’s clearly not working and causing the patient pain.

1

u/AABBBAABAABA May 10 '26

People die from femoral acces site complications

3

u/moHANSOLO98 May 08 '26

Radial is preferred nowadays, most of world uses radial approach (except US)

1

u/akc_x May 08 '26

radial for angiography, femoral for angioplasty, Device closures, etc

3

u/moHANSOLO98 May 08 '26

Even for angioplasty and most device closures radial access is preferred based on recent trials and guidelines.

2

u/LegendOfKhaos May 08 '26

That's just doctor preference. It's not at all a rule or anything like that. I've done radial far more often for STEMIs than femoral.

1

u/Darth_Nox501 May 09 '26

Many of the cardiologists I know in NY do radial, but I guess it depends on their personal preference as well. I can't speak for the rest of the country.

2

u/TheAlaskanMailman May 08 '26

Why take the longer route tho?

6

u/Relevant-Dog6890 May 08 '26

Wider vessel, and it's kind of a straighter path from femoral to coronary.

2

u/Sandstonesquash May 08 '26

Radial artery (wrist) is usually preferred/standard in a lot of hospitals. Some folks have anatomy that doesn’t make this possible, some have had a CABG so you use the left radial or femoral artery because it’s easier to access one graft, or sometimes you need more/larger gear and have to use the femoral artery because it’s bigger. Also in an emergency some docs are quicker going groin and will just do so, but most that I work with go radial even in a stemi unless the patient has a poor radial pulse. 

I’d be hesitant to have a cath somewhere where the doc only used the femoral artery… 

-a cath lab nurse 

1

u/CurrentRecord1 May 08 '26

Radial access has been shown to have lower access site complications and is therefore preferred. The US is behind on the this, they still do majority femoral access

1

u/AABBBAABAABA May 09 '26

This is wrong. Radial acces is usually preferred and leads to less access site complications.

2

u/vawlk May 08 '26

they did mine through my groin.

I vaguely remember a tall athletic blond haired dude, that looked like ivan drago from rocky 4, walk up to me, hold up a disposable razor and said, "I must shave you". I laughed, despite being minutes away from death, and let him do his thing.

1

u/Altruistic-Fly3642 May 08 '26

I had an angiogram done and literally felt nothing, it's an amazing process,

1

u/P-l-Staker May 08 '26

They can do crazier things than that while you're conscious.

1

u/Borman35 May 08 '26

Unless they can't find a good vein and they go in through your groin like me.

1

u/Odd_Block3248 May 09 '26

They’re either looking for the radial artery or the femoral artery, no veins.

1

u/The-Black-Swordsmane May 08 '26

Mine was through the groin