Interventional Cardiology

Second degree burn after radiofrequency ablation

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Case Overview

  • FL
  • 32 years old, Female
  • Other heart conditions, Obesity, Peripheral vascular disease w/ clotting, chronic diastolic CHF , hyperlipidemia, asthma, gastroparesis, GERD
  • Gynecological and orthopedic surgeries

An obese 32-year-old female patient underwent endovenous radiofrequency ablation of the small saphenous vein as an outpatient procedure at the office of an interventional cardiologist. The procedure itself was performed by an advanced registered nurse practitioner, and the doctor was not present in the room.
The night of the procedure, the patient went to the ER with pain and several blisters on her calf above the site of the incision. ER providers did an incision and drainage, with clear fluid, and prescribed antibiotics. The blisters turned into one large blister, approximately 3 cm x 2 cm. The patient was later diagnosed with a second degree burn, and required wound care over the course of months when it did not heal.
The cardiologist's records mention the possibility that the burn was subcutaneous from the RFA, but also questioned whether it could be due to a lidocaine allergy.

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