Expert: Ronald Levy, M.D. - 3/25/2010

Question
My husband got a septic infection after back surgery gone bad.  It destroyed his aortic valve and this past Tuesday he had an aortic valve replacement and triple bypass at the Cleveland Clinic.  He has not come out of the anesthesia yet.  He was moving his arms and feet, but hasn't opened his eyes nor responded to voice commands.  They did a EKG this morning.  He was heavily sedated even beore going into the surgery.  What do you think? Should we be worried?

Answer
The problem is probably not the anesthesia (which would have worn off within 12-24 hrs) but might be a stroke. Has he had a CT of the head. Is he repsonsive to painful stimuli. Even if it is not a stroke, this is not entirely uncommon (especially considering that he was septic. Time will tell. If he continues to improve, that's a good sign. I'm sure his doctors are considering all these options.


Ronald Levy, MD
Professor of Anesthesiology
UTMB-Galveston