CT scan contrast injection pain

CT scan contrast injection pain

I have had surgery to remove my kidney because of a cancer. I am now
being monitored for possible metastases on a quarterly basis. In
February, I received a CT scan for this purpose. Part of this
procedure involves injecting dye material so that a contrast view
could be obtained. When the dye was introduced during the scan it was
very painful. It was painful at the site of the injection... the
discomfort was not associated with the "flushing" feeling related to
the dye. I have been told that I have a lot of valves in my veins
because of my long exercise history. Does this have anything to do
with the pain that I experienced? The pain seemed to be associated
with a blocking of the initial flow of the material into my veins. I
am not sure if this is the case... but it seem to be.

I have mentioned my discomfort to my oncologist, but she seemed to
indicate that there is not much I can do. Does anyone have any
suggestions?

Thanks, Al

Re: CT scan contrast injection pain

This is a pretty classic case of a partially "infiltrated" injection.
That just means that some of the contrast media was injected into the
tissues around the vein, rather than into the vein itself. It is
certainly painful, but not particularly harmful, and there's not much
that can be done about it afterward except for applying warm compresses
and standard painkillers.

The force of the dye being pushed into the vein can move the
angiocatheter or needle enough that it's no longer completely in the vein.

I suppose that the valves in your veins could cause enough back-pressure
at the injection site to cause some dye to leak out around the needle
into the tissues, but it's more likely that the needle itself became
dislodged slightly after it was set up.

As long as enough dye got into your vein to get good images, there's
nothing to worry about...unless the IV site is still sore and red which
could indicate infection.

Andrew

alkon wrote:
> I have had surgery to remove my kidney because of a cancer. I am now
> being monitored for possible metastases on a quarterly basis. In
> February, I received a CT scan for this purpose. Part of this
> procedure involves injecting dye material so that a contrast view
> could be obtained. When the dye was introduced during the scan it was
> very painful. It was painful at the site of the injection... the
> discomfort was not associated with the "flushing" feeling related to
> the dye. I have been told that I have a lot of valves in my veins
> because of my long exercise history. Does this have anything to do
> with the pain that I experienced? The pain seemed to be associated
> with a blocking of the initial flow of the material into my veins. I
> am not sure if this is the case... but it seem to be.
>
> I have mentioned my discomfort to my oncologist, but she seemed to
> indicate that there is not much I can do. Does anyone have any
> suggestions?
>
> Thanks, Al
>

Re: CT scan contrast injection pain

Andrew Kerr wrote:
> This is a pretty classic case of a partially "infiltrated" injection.
> That just means that some of the contrast media was injected into the
> tissues around the vein, rather than into the vein itself. It is
> certainly painful, but not particularly harmful,

Actually, it's possible to develop severe tissue necrosis, cellulitis and
even loss of the limb. Keep a close eye on it.



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Re: CT scan contrast injection pain

Petro Gibraltar wrote:
> Andrew Kerr wrote:
>> This is a pretty classic case of a partially "infiltrated" injection.
>> That just means that some of the contrast media was injected into the
>> tissues around the vein, rather than into the vein itself. It is
>> certainly painful, but not particularly harmful,
>
> Actually, it's possible to develop severe tissue necrosis, cellulitis and
> even loss of the limb. Keep a close eye on it.
>
>
>

Yeah, well, if you let it go that long...

Somewhere at the end of my post I mentioned that if it's still red and
sore (the CT was in February) then it could be infected. It would
logically follow that a trip to the doctor would be in order if that was
the case.

Andrew