Is this your symptom?
- Symptoms that occur after surgery
- Common symptoms are pain and swelling at the incision site.
- Other common symptoms are mild dizziness, drowsiness, and nausea (feeling sick to the stomach).
- Most post-op problems occur within the first 4 weeks after surgery.
Key Points
- Follow all of your post-op instructions carefully. This will help prevent problems after surgery.
- It is common for people to have some symptoms after surgery.
- Mild or moderate pain and swelling at the incision site are common. These symptoms usually peak 2 to 3 days after surgery and then get better.
- Many people also feel a little dizzy, sleepy, or drowsy. Nausea (feeling sick to stomach), and vomiting (throwing up) are also common. These symptoms usually last less than 24 hours.
- You can treat mild post-op symptoms with self-care at home.
Problems after Surgery
More common problems that may occur after surgery include:
- Anesthesia Side Effects: Anesthesia (medicine used to put you asleep during surgery) causes side effects in many people. Common side effects are dizziness, drowsiness, nausea, and vomiting. These symptoms usually get better within 24 hours.
- Infections: The most common post-op infection is a surgical wound infection. Symptoms are wound pain or swelling that worsen, spreading redness or red streaks, and pus. Other common infections are pneumonia and urinary tract infection. All post-op patients with fever should call or see a doctor right away. Fever can be a sign of a bacterial infection.
- Constipation: Many factors can cause constipation after surgery. These include anesthesia, pain medicine, poor fluid intake, and decreased activity.
- Dehydration: Vomiting and not drinking enough fluids can lead to dehydration.
- DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis): A DVT is a blood clot that forms in a deep vein. The most common place is the lower leg or thigh. All people are at risk for DVT after surgery. The main symptoms are pain in the calf or thigh and leg swelling.
Other problems include:
- Bowel blockage: This mainly occurs with abdomen (belly) surgery.
- Headache after having an epidural for pain
- Surgical wound hematoma (blood swelling at the wound site)
- Surgical wound opens up
Prevention
- Follow your post-op instructions carefully. This will help prevent post-op problems.
- Keep your wound clean and dry.
- Follow your activity limits. Avoid any vigorous activity or heavy lifting for at least 4 weeks after surgery.
- For most surgeries, you can start light exercise (walking on a level surface) the day after surgery. Walking and light exercise lowers the chance of blood clots and constipation.
- Protect the wound from injury during the month after surgery. At one week after surgery, the tissue strength of the incision is only 10% of normal. At one month after surgery, it is only 50%.
- Do not smoke for the first month after surgery. Smoking slows wound healing.
Driving After Surgery
Follow the instructions your surgeon gave you. Do not drive if you are taking narcotic pain medicine (such as Vicodin). In general, it is safe to start driving after the following time periods:
- After any procedure with IV sedation/medicine: 24 hours
- After general anesthesia: 24 hours
- After minor surgery (biopsy, vasectomy): 2 days
- After appendectomy, hernia repair, laparoscopic cholecystectomy: 1 week
- After laparotomy, hysterectomy, C-section; prostate, bowel or other major surgery: 3 weeks
- After cardiac bypass surgery, back surgery: 4 weeks
When to Call for Surgery - Symptoms-Questions
Call 911 Now
Go to ER Now
Call Doctor or Seek Care Now
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Contact Doctor Within 24 Hours
Contact Doctor During Office Hours
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Self Care at Home
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Call 911 Now
- Sudden onset of shortness of breath or chest pain
- Coughing up blood
- You think you have a life-threatening emergency
Go to ER Now
- Feeling light-headed, dizzy or faint
- Severe pain and pain meds are not helping
- Confused
Call Doctor or Seek Care Now
- Wound looks infected (pain, swelling, redness, or pus)
- Fever or chills; feeling hot or shivery
- Unable to pass urine and have abdominal pain
- You feel dehydrated (dark urine, dry mouth)
- Nausea and vomiting
- Severe headache
- Bloated abdomen
- You feel weak or very sick
- You think you need to be seen, and the problem is urgent
Contact Doctor Within 24 Hours
- Headache, but not severe
- You think you need to be seen, but the problem is not urgent
Contact Doctor During Office Hours
- You have other questions or concerns
Self Care at Home
- Mild pain within the first few days after surgery
Care Advice for Stomach Pain
What You Should Know About Stomach Pain:
- Mild stomach pain can be caused by something simple. It could be from gas pains or eating too much.
- Sometimes, stomach pain signals the start of a viral infection. This will lead to vomiting or loose stools.
- Watching your child for 2 hours will help tell you the cause.
- Here is some care advice that should help.
Lie Down:
- Have your child lie down and rest until feeling better.
Clear Fluids:
- Offer clear fluids only (such as water, flat soft drinks or half-strength Gatorade).
- For mild pain, offer a regular diet.
Prepare for Vomiting:
- Keep a vomiting pan handy.
- Younger children often talk about stomach pain when they have nausea. Nausea is the sick stomach feeling that comes before they throw up.
Pass a Stool:
- Have your child sit on the toilet and try to pass a stool.
- This may help if the pain is from constipation or diarrhea.
- Note: for constipation, moving a warm wet cotton ball on the anus may help.
Do Not Give Medicines:
- Any drug (like ibuprofen) could upset the stomach and make the pain worse.
- Do not give any pain medicines or laxatives for stomach cramps.
- For fever higher than 102° F (39° C), acetaminophen (such as Tylenol) can be given.
What to Expect:
- With harmless causes, the pain is most often better or gone in 2 hours.
- With stomach flu, belly cramps may happen before each bout of vomiting or diarrhea. These cramps may come and go for a few days.
- With serious causes (such as appendicitis), the pain worsens and becomes constant.
Call Your Doctor If:
- Pain becomes severe
- Constant pain lasts more than 2 hours
- Mild pain that comes and goes lasts more than 24 hours
- You think your child needs to be seen
- Your child becomes worse
Extra Help - Worried Stomach:
- Help your child talk about events that trigger the stomach pain. Talk to your child about how to cope with these the next time around.
- Help your child worry less about things she can't control.
- To treat the pain, help your child get very relaxed. Lying down in a quiet place and taking slow deep breaths may help. Make the belly go up and down with each breath. Then try to relax all the muscles in the body. Think about something pleasant. Listening to audios that teach how to relax might also help.
- Make sure your child gets enough sleep.
- Make sure that your child doesn't miss any school because of stomach pains. Stressed children tend to want to stay home when the going gets rough.
- Caution: your child should see her doctor for an exam. Do this before concluding frequent stomach pains are from worrying too much.
