Hi all! I was recently diagnosed with jugular compression on my left side by Dr Tobias at Brain and Spine Surgeons of NY. Before doing the jugular decompression surgery, he had me schedule a venogram with a balloon occlusion with Dr Mattay. I have my venogram in a week, and I am very nervous. I’m not really sure what to expect symptom-wise during the test, and I am scared the test will trigger a cascade of nervous system symptoms that I won’t be able to address the way I normally do if I’m undergoing the procedure. I’m also nervous about the catheter and how painful that might be. Overall, I’m just trying to figure out if this will be a painful procedure or not. I’ve seen a lot of people say that the catheter is the worst part and that it’s over quickly, but I want to prepare for what to expect with the whole procedure, and what the balloon occlusion will be like. If anyone has had this test done, I would love to hear your experience.
@sarah96 - Do you know if Dr. Mattay does catheter venograms with or without anesthesia?
I had one w/ anesthesia & felt nothing during the procedure, & the only ill effect I had from it was visual migraines for a few days afterward from the contrast used. Others of our members who’ve had them done w/o anesthesia or who’ve had “twilight anesthesia” have said it wasn’t terribly uncomfortable overall. I expect at least one or two of our members who’ve experienced a catheter venogram w/o anesthesia will give a more thorough reply than I can. I think the addition of the balloon occlusion test is somewhat new so we may have only had a couple of members who’ve had that done.
@sarah96 I had balloon occlusion testing during the IR venogram to see if the source of the pulsatile tinnitus could be identified (temporarily stop the blood flow and see if the noise stops). I was wide awake, in order to capture the most accurate pressure gradients, and didn’t feel anything related to the balloon. Good luck!