Paresthesia in Hand and Antebrachium Following CardiacSurgery: Incidence, Risk Factors and Clinical Course

Complication,Postoperative, Paresthesia, Peri-operative Injury, Upper Limb Nerve Lesion

paresthesia upper limb, cardiac surgery, peri-operative complication

To describe the incidence and severity of Paresthesia in Hand and Antebrachium in patients that have undergone CardiacSurgery.

Some patients report tingling and/or numbness in hand and/or antebrachium after cardiac surgery, but potential risc factors and clinical course are not well described, and the incidence or severity is not known. Many factors may impact on the development of these complaints: age, BMI, pre-operative neurological deficits, diabetes, type, technique and duration of cardiac surgery, positioning of arms and hands during surgery, placement of the arterial line, time-to-extubation and post-operative positioning during this period. The investigators aim to describe incidence and clinical course of these complaints and possibly identify modifiable risc factors in a retrospective cohort of patients that have undergone fast-track cardiac surgery, as a part of the on-going patient-centered quality improvement. The study included 361 patients. Conclusion The incidence of hand paresthesia following cardiac surgery was 10%. This study found an increased occurrence of paresthesia after aortic valve surgery and prolonged aortic cross-clamp duration; these differences were not statistically significant. The impact of arterial line placement and patient positioning as a risk factor remains unclear. The majority of patients with paresthesia were overweight and had pre-existing comorbidity, with 11% reporting preoperative paresthesia. The clinical course of hand paresthesia following cardiac surgery was predominantly transient and not severe.

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