Post ATR surgery black eyes and fat lip
October 1st, 2008
Apparently, now achilles tendon repair comes with a complimentary fat lip and black eyes! At least they dropped me on my face and not on my boo-boo foot….
According to the operative report, fat lip was from being intubated and in the prone position and black eyes were from “need for additional patient restraint” during transition from “excitatory sedation phase”….hmm, they do say that redheads are harder to anesthetize….
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Hi Heather,
It which case, injury to face may occur but I bet out of 200 bloggers here, this would be rare? There is always a first? Did you check with the resident you know?
You wrote that you fell after being lightheaded at the gym when you tried to walk after rupturing your tendon, right? Usually, “raccoon eyes” can be a sign of trauma. The only thing that bothers me about this theory is that it was almost two weeks ago, but the marks do look a little “old”, from the pic, so maybe a possibility? A pre-op checklist in your record would indicate any eccymosis pre-op. I was thinking the fat lip could be a reaction to a drug? Or Possible trauma from Intubation or again, your pre op fall? You may also want to ask what position you were laid on the table….many times they turn you over to do your achilles too!
A post op report would tell you what position you were in and an example is on Dr Ross Blog, where he copied his op report.
Hope you find this information helpful.
MarilynRD, RN
Hey Marilyn,
Thanks for the info -and you’re completely right about the black eyes and fat lip….I called my doc and asked about it and apparently the fat lip is common from being intubated and in the prone position for 1+hours during surgery (as you mentioned in your post.) The black eyes are apparently from “phase 2- the excitatory phase” of sedation. Some patients get agitated (thrash around, vomit, etc) once sedation has been induced - I was apparently one of those rare cheeky little patients, and the transition of getting me from being on my back and into the prone position did not go overly smoothly….so they brought the smack-down and had to exert some extra pressure on my face to hold me in place….if you asked my husband he’d probably say I deserved it
Thanks for the info!
Heather
my pleasure.
Reading the posts and should be sleeping…what can I say after working the graveyard shift for so many years i am a night owl. glad you posted for all to learn …this is a great site
Knowing this could all be a brilliant scam to solicit middle of the night entertainment…sorry, I digress. I have seen this patient. Formerly a 4″-heels weilding person…now two black and swollen eyes, fat lip, frozen toes and multi wrapped frozen knee to toe victim, is real. Your razor-sharp wit, humor, and medical insight are sooooo much another endearing charm Heather. May you heal quickly, with no pain (right!) and keep (albeit swollen) smiling. You are lovable and adorable.
That is amazing. You had a surgery on your achiles and you end up with a fat lip and black eye. They were probably just got bored and felt like punching you in the face. LOL. I wish there was a video of your procedure that we could watch.