To determine if infection is the cause of chest pain, doctors will:
- Look for signs of infection such as redness, swelling, pus, and drainage at the site of surgery
- Order a more sophisticated imaging study of the chest called a gallium scan, which will show increased uptake of the radioactive material gallium in an area of infection
- Check the white blood cell count to see if it is elevated, a sign of infection
- Order a chest X-ray if pneumonia is a suspected cause of chest pain
- Order an ECG and other tests if a heart problem is suspected