Fatigue, Fever, and Arthritis After Heart Surgery

Fatigue, Fever, and Arthritis After Heart Surgery

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QUESTION: I had heart surgery several weeks ago, and thought I was doing fine
until recently, when I began to experience extreme fatigue, a slight fever,
arthritis pain and loss of appetite. I am being treated by my doctor, who is
merely prescribing aspirin. Is this all that is needed to cure me?
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ANSWER: Your physician is playing it conservatively, but by the book. The
ever increasing number of heart operations has provided us with new insights
into the results of the surgery, as well as syndromes which develop after the
operations are performed. Your condition is known as "Postpericardiotomy
Syndrome" and can occur in as many as 10 to 50% of all cardiac surgery
patients. Certainly your symptoms fit this diagnosis, and your doctor
probably has some additional evidence from laboratory tests that rule out
other possibilities. The cause of this syndrome may be linked to immune
responses, possibly set off by a viral infection. It is difficult to tell you
how long this may persist, as that varies greatly from patient to patient.
The use of salicylates (aspirin) is recommended, and can bring the symptoms
under control in about 4 days. While steroids can be used to obtain a quicker
result, such treatment may mask the symptoms of a true infection, and patients
treated with this medication have more frequent relapses. The good news is
that this syndrome usually runs its course without other complications or side
effects. Your job is to relax, follow your therapy and obtain a complete and
swift recovery.