Post-Picc Arm Pain - General Health Message Board

Nyxie63 · 09-26-2008, 02:20 PM

I had a picc line in my left arm from June 10 to August 22 of this year. During that time, I had pain in that arm (inside of the upper arm and armpit), but was assured by my doctor that it was first from the insertion and then from overuse and to rest it. The pain ranged from a dull ache to a sharp pain (particularly in the armpit area) and would occasionally radiate down the left side of my chest.

Since the picc has been removed, the pain has continued to occur, more so when I use the arm, but sometimes happens for no reason. I'm also having aching pain in the left shouder and left side of my neck, as well as having areas of reduced sensitivity. The arm is not swollen or discolored and there doesn't seem to be any loss of mobility or strength.

I've had heart studies done and, while they did fine some anomalies, they said everything's fine and the anomalies are normal variants. So that's not the issue.

It took 4 tries for them to insert the picc because it kept "catching" on something and I'm wondering if they didn't manage to damage something in there.

I've talked to my doctor about the residual pain and she suggested it might be "phantom pain" from having the picc and didn't care to pursue the subject further. I don't buy into that as the inside of my arm and armpit are tender to the touch.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what this might be or how to go about getting it diagnosed since my dr seems to think it's all in my head?

Thanks in advance.

P.S. - Not trying to cloud the issue here and don't even know if it's applicable, but someone on another board mentioned thoracic outlet syndrome. Any idea what kind of doc can diagnose this? Does what I have sound like this?

Nyxie63 · 09-27-2008, 07:05 PM

Measured the arm today. No swelling. At least that's a good thing.

Noticed that the area that hurts is hard. I can actually feel the vein in there. Not sure I should be able to do that.

Fibrin sheath? Phlebitis? Thrombosis?

texan1771 · 09-28-2008, 06:25 AM

I have had several PICC lines and never had any pain like you are describing...I feel your frustration,if you can't get any answers and it's really bothersome maybe a trip to the ER??? Before I got there maybe try applying a ice pack or a heating pad to see which one offers some relief....Sad thing is when your Dr. WON't listen and you have to make a trip to the ER,but the ER will run tests on the spot...Let us know what the results are...OH yeah what kind of medicines were run thru your PICC line? That DOES matter to!!!! G

Nyxie63 · 09-28-2008, 07:06 AM

Hi G!

I've been trying to avoid the whole ER thing. Been there too many times in the past year. Might be my only recourse tho. *sigh*

A hot water bottle offers some relief and then it doesn't. The heat feels good but doesn't do anything for the pain. Ice packs don't sound good but I'll give it a go and see if it helps any.

I was given Rocephin (antibiotic) through the picc, as well as the usual saline and heparin flushes. Halfway through treatment, we discovered I was allergic to the heparin (through yet another visit to the ER), which probably didn't help things any. No wonder I hadn't felt well since starting the treatment. And I thought it was side effects of the antibiotic. Oh well. Discontinued the heparin and felt considerably better for the rest of the treatment.

I'm leaning toward them doing some kind of damage in there during the insertion. Like I said in my first post, there were 4 insertion attempts. Each attempt was at a different spot. The guidewire even crumpled one time. That one hurt!

Thanks for your reply and will keep you posted.

feelbad · 09-28-2008, 08:14 AM

was the person who inserted your picc a total idiot? they normally use different technology when inserting a picc line vs just starting a regular type of IV. it should not have taken that many attempts at all. i really am thinking nerve damage. any one of those misses could have damaged a nerve there. are you feeling any actual numbness or tingling in that arm? you 'could' possibly have one issue up in the c spine area that is also exascerbating the arm issue too. anything is indeed possible believe me. they need to start ruling things out for you with a bit of testing. they could do a simple MRI on the c spine and upper T,and also doing an EMG on that arm itself would generally show any actual nerve flow impairment and or possible damage to. but you also need to have a doc who is willing to go for this too.if you do not feel that your doc is taking your pain and other symptoms seriously,go seek out someone who will. you just will not get anywhwere with a doc who just does not appear to care about a patients real pain and need to find the reasons. been there done that one to death myself.

you simply NEED a doc that is willing to look for answers first before anything will really get accomplished. finding another doc or trying to get your current one to really see your absolute need here to just find out what is casuing this would be the way to go. you just need some testing done. possibly getting a referral to a good neuro would help tons right now. they just know what types of testing is needed to find answers for your symptoms. that picc could have been hitting a nerve the entire time it was inserted,depending upon how it was lying within that vein,and any actual pressure that could have been compromising a nerve up there. but with so many attempts at just inserting this in you,anything could have become damaged too ya know? right now,you just need a doc or neuro who is willing to work for you to find answers. getting the basic testing done will either rule things in or out for you and you go from there.

i do wish you luck with this and hope you can find out just exactly what the heck occured and what is creating this now. you also need someone to treat the pain properly too. if this is from nerve damage,in most cases,it wont respond really well to any narcotics. you kind of have to go out of the box a bit in order to really treat nerve related pain appropriately. it wouldn't hurt to see about getting a referral to a good pain management doc as well. believe me, they DO know how to treat all types of pain in the very best ways. i am grateful to have my pain doc helping me with my off the wall types of pain. please keep us posted on how things are going. start pushing your doc for help with this,afterall,it is their job. FB