Bruising After Heart Cath

I have had two heart catheterizations recently: one on December 12th and the second on January 9th (6 days ago).

Currently I have a roughly six inch diameter circular bruise spread across my upper thigh and my lower belly. Also a separate, smaller patch about two inches further down my leg, and a patch around on the right hip. In the immediate vicinity of the puncture site, there is a hard lump about an inch across. The bruise now is about twice as big as the one after the first heart cath on December 12. The Dec.12 bruise had all but disappeared prior to the Jan. 9 cath. It is quite ugly and generally sore.

I am wondering if this size of a bruise is unusual and needs to be seen by my doctor; opinions? Thanks.

Thanks. I talked to my cardiologist today about this bruising; they advised discontinuing my daily aspirin for four days to allow the blood to dissipate. I'll try to report here again in a few days.

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I don't wish to be an alarmist, but I agree with Dr. Chung. It is
*not likely* that you have a pseudoaneurysm, but if you do have one it is important that it be recognized early on. And that just cannot be done over the telephone.

Maybe you could call your cardiologist back and ask him to examine you?

Just my $0.02 -

smn