vagal response

[ohmeowzer RN, RN]

i have a pt who's finger's get a strange feeling( she said it was hard to describe) when she has to have a BM .. she said she can tell she has to have a BM when her fingers feel strange,,has anyone ever heard of this?? she said her fingers just started doing this ... is it a vagal response? she has osteoarthritis in her fingers , but she's had that for years .. and she has never had this problem until recently.... thank you all in advance and i wish you all a very happy thanksgiving... :redbeathe

[Lacie, BSN, RN]

New one on me lol. Vagal usually happens during a BM in the case your describing and generally not before. Primarily when someone is straining. We used to tell pt's back in the day when they were having a bit of svt/tachy to bear down like they need to make a bm or to cough as sometimes it would resolve it without need for medication. (Old school of course). You would get dizziness, decreased heart rate, decreased b/p, clamminess etc. Now on the contrary I have had female pts present into the CCU with an Acute MI with no more symptoms then "tingling" in thier fingers. So it could be more of a perfusion issue than a vagal response. Just my 2 cents.

[wtbcrna, MSN, DNP, CRNA]

The only thing I think of that would cause a transient tingling in the fingers is hyperventilation from the transient hypocalcemia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperventilation

It would be hard to tell what is really going on with this patient without knowing their PMH and meds they are on. That is one I have never heard of before...lol