Nerve Block gone bad (Long..read if you have the time)

[A.K.]

I had a Femoral Nerve Block today. My doc went in through the right groin and I knew it probably wasn't gonna be my day when after I had talked with the nurse in the operating room about where the needle would go in and she assured me it would not be in the location of a scar I have where a tumor was removed and lymph glands stripped out several years ago and then.....where do you think the needle went??? Oh yes he did! That scar has alway been super sensitive like any type of pressure on it was me letting out a yelp.

So then through like about 2/3 of him hunting for my LFCN, which is what he really wanted my entire leg was flopping up and down on the table, spasming, or reacting as though it was having a reflex check. I have never had any of that happen in a Femoral Nerve Block before - I've had two unsucessful before about three years ago. Lots of pain, blah, blah, only once for about two seconds did I actually feel him hit the LFCN - now I am not a doctor so perhaps that was the two seconds he was putting meds in and then it was numb, if so cool! However, before it's over I have a brand new pain and it is BAD, it's on the inside of my thigh coming down from my groin. IT HAS NEVER HURT THERE BEFORE! I told him and he said he just stuck a needle in my leg it would stop hurting shortly. Okay...breath.

I go to recovery, he wants to see me in 20 minutes, during that time my pain level starts increasing in my back from laying on all the hard beds but that not what I'm here for so I am just trying to be calm. He comes in check the allodynia in very upper thighs on both legs and they are similar but I am still more sensitive in my right leg so he gives me a "top off" injection there in the recovery stall. No flouroscopy - which it happened so fast I didn't even think of that till he had gone after saying he would be back in 20.

In 2 minutes I was having the really hard sharp pains that I have on a regular basis with my leg. No medical professional has ever seen them.....timing you know. But two of the nurses almost paniced themselves, they were like "what is happening". I told them this is how I live. They looked at each other and for the first time I felt really truly absolutely disabled because all I saw on these to pain management nurses faces was pure pity for me.

Writing this out is harder than I realized it would be.

The new pain in my right thigh is still going, my old super sharp pains are going my back is now killing me and I could not stop crying no matter how hard I tryed because I was at a 10 all the way on that blasted pain scale. Then my doctor comes around the corner looks at me, I tell him whats going on. Again he says the new pain will go away soon and then turns around and leaving tells me the whole nerve block today was a waste of time if I am already in this much pain. Guess what I did? Cried harder!:o

Now the worst part......

I had to get dressed. Left leg up, goes through the hole in my pants, right leg up......I said right leg up.....up please.....oh it responded but only about four inches.

I now can only raise my right leg about 4 or 5 inches up off the floor. It just will not come any higher. I AM SO SCARED. I had to pick my leg up and put it in the car.

I've been home since 7 p.m. tonight. Old pain is the same as usual, new pain is there not unbearable but the leg? Someone please tell me this is typical it happened to you and by tonight I will be able to jump rope and do karate kicks. Now that would be a miracle!!!

Dr. Lobel, you know I greatly value your opinion and if you had time to read this novel please tell me what you think.

Mrs. D. same with you, I appreciate the time you put in here. What can you tell me about the medication situation I mentioned.

I am going now to continuing discovering all the things that require lifting your leg more than a few inches....it's amazing. Thanks for your valuable time friends, A.K.

[lobelsteve]

Sorry to hear about this. I never realized when you said nerve block that you were having a peripheral nerve blocked. I assumed he was doing a transforaminal ESI at L5 and/or S1 for the DDD.

PM me over the weekend with a brief history as well as diagnostic and therapeutic tests, meds, procedures. Might be time for a change. I know docs all over town.

[Bobbi]

Sounds more like torture. I'm so sorry you've been in so much pain.

*hug

[slipnslide]

A.K.,

What a horrifying experience!:eek: I am so sorry to hear of what you went through.

I want to share some things I have gone through with the nerves in the hip because of the pain I have in my hip, groin, and thigh.

I have had three RF's in the hip/abdomen and one nerve block, and fluoroscopy was never used for these procedures. My PM always uses fluoroscopy when he does my Cervical ESI's and he used it when he did a block at L2/3 in an attempt to treat the hip/groin/thigh pain. Whenever he did the RF's he placed the needle at different locations in my abdomen, close to the iliac crest, after numbing the area. For the RF's, his needle placement was right on the money most of the time. He would turn up the RF waves and based on what I was feeling, and he was able to tell if the correct nerve was being stimulated. He would repeat this on each of the nerves. On a couple occasions he had to adjust the needle slightly. Also, the one block I had (I'm actually not sure if it is considered a block or trigger point injection) was done next to the defect in my hip where bone was taken and used for my ACDF autograft. No fluroscopy was used at that time either. My PM has told me that those nerves that pass through the hip are very hard to treat:(. I don't know if fluoroscopy is ever used in these nerves, but I wanted to share my experience with you. Honestly, I don't know if this is common practice for these procedures:confused:, or if fluoroscopy should be used:confused:.

I hope you are feeling better and your leg improves. Keep us posted.

[Gimpy]

I had a block like that when I had my knee replacement. I didn't realize they were given for pain management too.

They knocked me out before they did it because I was heading for surgery anyway. They said it's to painful to do when awake.

I'm so sorry you're hurting so much and the Dr. hurt you more.

Linda

[debhun]

I too am sorry the Dr hurt you and you are in so much pain. It seem that some Dr don't care what kind of pain we are in. They don't think we are really in that much pain.JMO. I am glad that Dr Steve is going to help you. I hope you feel better soon.

Deb

[GardeniaGirl]

I am sorry to hear what you went through. I hope Steve can help.

Your experience (and many others I have read on the net over the years) is one thing that has deterred me from pursuing invasive procedures.

I have an intuitive sense that things like that will give me results like yours.

I had my first and only SI joint injections earlier this year and they did nothing for me and were very expensive. I was astonished at the bill and am fortunate to have the insurance I have.

Anyway, I do hope Steve can help you. I am sorry you have more suffering after going for a procedure to reduce suffering. I can totally understand why you would be very upset and depressed over this.

GG

[Mary Diane]

as one of my pain quacks, I mean drs, sorry :rolleyes:, screwed up while giving me an injection in the neck. (I just found it, an SGB: Stellate Ganglion Block) One of those that goes from the front through to the back near the spine. Whatever he hit spread the damage that I already had, and made it much worse. Which in turn made me very hesitant about ever having any more injections, anywhere near the spine. I would think that your pain probably hovers around 14 on a scale of 1 to 10, that's what mine does on my worst days.

I am not too familiar with spinal problems, as I have been trying to research the RSD first before my back difficulties. Actually, I think they're all tied together: solve one, solve them all. I hope that you can get through this latest trauma without permanent damage. Do you see a therapist? or is your PCP someone you can talk to freely? As one who has been there, you need to talk to someone about the dr who hurt you, and walked away. When his own staff recognized that something happened, it needed to be dealt with, for your sake. My dr sat down and told me that sometimes things happen that seem to be something that they're not, as in this case. My regular pain dr didn't know there had been a problem, so what does that tell you? It says there is no record, so there is no proof.

You at least have proof, your nurses will back you up if need be. Follow up with whoever you need to, hon. Good luck, and may God hold you in the palm of His hand,

Love and one-armed hugs,

Mary Diane *cg06