What are the expected symptoms and findings after surgery?
A. Patients following cardiac surgery should expect to have mild to moderate discomfort for 3 to 4 weeks post-operatively at the sites of the incisions. Numbness along the arm, the leg and the chest is not uncommon. Swelling of the lower extremities, particularly on the side from which your lower extremity vein was removed is relatively common. Under these circumstances, be sure to elevate your lower extremities as much as possible when sedentary. At night while sleeping, please raise your lower extremities on several pillows. It is important to elevate the leg while sleeping to above the level of your heart so that gravity acts on the excess tissue fluid and this drains nightly. Should the edema not resolve with these maneuvers, please contact your surgeon. It is important that post-operative surgical patients be active, since this prevents the formation of deep vein thrombosis (blood clots) in your calves. This is a serious situation and typically manifests itself as excessive swelli
