arm veins breakable?

Question

My grandfather's shoulder has been hurting him from time to time. We have took him to the Dr for MRI's but couldn't help him because of his pacemaker.Today he said that the doctor said is vein is broken. and sore when he is sleeping. Do you have any advice what else can be done or are the sources very limited for us?

Answer 1

Why don't they do a venogram? It's an x-ray looking at veins as radiopaque contrast is injected through an IV in the same arm, then they watch the flow of the contrast under fluoroscopy. It will make sure the veins are intact (or not intact).

Is this happening on the same side as his pacemaker? Some patients develop a DVT (deep vein thrombosis) in the same vein the pacer wires are in, and that can be looked at with a simple ultrasound.

Answer 2

if the doctor is implying that his shoulder is hurting due to a "broken" vein in his shoulder, then what he probably means is that the has phlebitis which is an inflammation of the vein. this would be an unusual etiology for his pain. more common causes for shoulder pain would be arthritis or a rotator cuff injury or perhaps just a muscle strain. if he does in fact have phlebitis, then heat may help. anti-inflammatory medications like aspirin, tylenol, or motrin may also help. surgical excision of the inflammed vein can be done if conservative measures fail or if blood flow is compromised.

Answer 3

Your grandfather couldn't have an MRI because he has a pacemaker. The MRI is a strong magnet and the pacemaker probably has metal in it.

Veins don't break, per se, but they can burst. The doctor probably thinks he has a hematoma or bruise. If it's internal you probably can't see it.

There really is no treatment, you might try pain medications such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen (Advil or Tylenol).

Answer 4

M.R.I. is surely not the only way to check out problems with veins. I had some sort of scan done recently which would not have interfered with a pacemaker. I'd get a second opinion if I were you.