Bleeding in arm

[Loretta]

Well After 13 incisions and three tubes in my left arm I was ready to start using my fistula.  It was all set up. The nurse who would stick me had been told to do it and it would happen at 5:00 AM.  I went to sleep about 1:00Am.  with my alarm set for 4:30, but I knew I would wake several times before the alarm.  At 2 I woke up.  I was soaking wet and so was my pillow and blankets.  It was wet and sticky.  Confused I tuned on a light and realized the wet was blood.  I jumped up and ran across the hall to a mirror in the bathroom and found that the blood was coming from my arm. A small hole in the last incision.  The blood was squirting out all over!  I grabbed a towel and wrapped it up.  Luckily I live with my Mom so I got her up.  She wrapped it tight with an ace bandage.  We cleaned up and went back to bed.  Two hours after it had been wrapped it hadn't bled through and it was hurting from being so tight.  I took off the bandage and it started bleeding again.  This time without the squirting.  I got my poor Mom up again and we drove the half hour to the hospital that my vascular surgeon works at.  Finally by 7:00 AM They got it stopped .  I was admitted. and then about the same thing happened the next day.  My surgeon was on vacation.  I got all kinds of guesses about what was going on.  Some guessed a hemotoma, others an aneurysm.  I am worried; they told my not to use it until My Dr. gets home and has a chance to see it.  It still has it brill or thrill  or whatever but I am worried.  Has anyone had anything similar?

[BRANDY]

this sounds important,  Isnt there a back up doc at your  dr office that might see you before your  reg doc gets back.  That needs attention now.

[2kidneystomany]

I just went thru the same thing as you I have had my fistula for 8 years and  I do home hemo dialysis my mom comes over to my house to help well anyway last week when we were takeing out the venus line it started to bleed and would not stop we put as much pressure as possable on it but kept bleeding thru. so we called 911. they sais oh this is not  good well  long story shot ambulace ride to er thay got it to stop but my vascular surgon said I have to much pressure comming from the main vein up in my neck.andif my blood pressure raises to much on dialysis it could happen again .I lost so much blood my count was down to 6 2pints later and alot of iron but make sure your heprin intake is very limited...hope this helped alittle  ask anytime

[RightSide]

The exact same thing just happened to me this past Thursday.  The blood was just shooting out of my upper arm.

Evidently a blood vessel had leaked, perhaps due to the arterial blood pressure.  I had to have revision surgery on the fistula to correct it.

Pressure on the arm will relieve the external bleeding.  But if a blood vessel has burst, it will continue to leak blood into the surrounding tissues of the arm, until that is surgically corrected.  So revision surgery may be needed ASAP.

Watch for swelling in your arm, or for your arm turning purple.  Both are signs of internal bleeding of the fistula.  That is, one or more leaks in the blood vessel.

[Loretta]

I have absolutely no bruising in my arm at all.  All the blood ran out the old incision.  I am probably very lucky for that.  Thanks for your concern.  I see the Dr tomorrow.  So we will see.

[Rerun]

Yes, the same thing (or similar) happened to me.  They had put the needle in the same area so many times that a big scab formed and when I accidentally knocked it off blood shot all over.  I had to call 911 and they took me in.  Long story short, I had to have surgery to repair the hole.
All is well now.

                     

[pamster42000]

I remember my daughter having this problem when she took showers. It happened three times to her. I was never present but apparently there was blood all over the place. There's alot of pressure in that area. The ambulance was called immediately each time.

[Loretta]

Well as I was getting ready to go see the Dr.  My arm started bleeding again.  I went ahead and kept my appointment since I had someone to drive me and didn't have to drive myself.  I had emergency surgery that afternoon.  The new incision is almost as long as the first.  Probably about 8 inches long, and is very sore.  There was a blood vessel in the scar.  The Dr. tied it off.  The fistula is still working, So  I just have to get the new incsion to heal.








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