“My dad is feeling breathless after his bypass. Could there be something serious?”
My father is 78 years old and underwent a bypass surgery recently. He is feeling very breathless ever since the surgery. Could there be something serious?
6 Answers
Yes
Could be pain, fluid.
To contact the surgeon for: 1. to rule out fluid around the heart; 2. to make sure that he is not in cardiac arrhythmia; 3.to rule out blood clot in the lungs. Even though he had cabg recently, it does not mean that all the grafts are open. He needs a work-up.
Mark Rasak
Cardiologist
It's not uncommon for post-bypass patients to have fluid on their lungs. A simple chest X-ray should show it. Some patients need the fluid drained. An EKG may show a change in rhythm such as atrial fibrillation, which can cause this. Heart failure and pneumonia also possible. Needs to get in and see his cardiologist or his surgeon.
He should see his cardiologist as soon as possible as there are many things that can cause this including fluid buildup around the heart or lungs or an arrhythmia. He will need to examine him and probably run a few tests, I certainly would check with him soon and not neglect this.
Huge list of possibilities, many of them serious. Among these are pleural effusion, pericardial effusion, CHF, pulmonary emboli. He needs to see his doctor asap.
