Had my PICC line inserted yesterday at a local hospital. Procedure was uneventful other than a little pain and pressure. I was walking out of the hospital to head home when suddenly had stabbing pains along my inner thigh area.
Never had this before. I was pain free when I got here but now I was having intermittent stabbing, sharp pain in the same spot inner thigh for about 15 minutes.
I went back to the radiology dept where they inserted the PICC. Doctor and nurse came out and stated "This has nothing to do with your PICC line placement".
I asked them "If the PICC is placed in the SVC (superior vena cava), shouldn't that all connect to my femoral artery where I'm having this pain?" They admitted yes but kept insisting they were not aware of any problems with the inner thigh that the placement could of caused.
They sent me to the ER. ER doctor was highly susupicious for a blood clot. I was worked up for a clot and the conclusion was "muscle spasms". I told them I've had many muscle spasms prior and this felt nothing like it. I was actually in tears from this pain.
It was very close to the severity of delivering my 9 and 1/2 lb daughter !! They insisted they didn't know what else it could be and sent me home with percocet, muscle relaxers and motrin. Today, I don't have any discomfort there and I'm happy about that.
Maybe it was coincidence this occurred immediately following the PICC insertion, who knows? Glad it wasn't a clot. Funny....the doctor asked why did I get a PICC line. I told him I have Lyme disease.
He asked "Well, you must live out in the woods huh?" I replied, "No, Maryland has a lot of Lyme and I live in an apartment right outside of Baltimore City." He said "I've never heard that before." WOW, I thought. Then he said that perhaps my pain was from the Lymes Disease. I don't think I'll ever know and I'm just happy its a done deal.