Recovering from your surgery
After your surgery, the focus of your care will be on recovering well from the operation.
Minor surgery and major surgery
If you are having minor surgery, you may be having ‘day surgery’. This is where you are allowed home (discharged) the same day as your surgery, so you can recover at home.
If you are having major surgery, you will stay in hospital and be admitted to a surgical ward after your operation. On the ward, a team of your surgeons, nurses, physiotherapists, pharmacists, dietitians and other staff will work together to make sure you recover well and avoid any complications from your operation.
Leaving hospital will be discussed with you during your hospital stay. It helps to have some transport and other support organised for when you return home.
Help prevent breathing complications
Breathing complications, such as low oxygen levels or pneumonia, can be common after major surgery. The chance of these is higher if the surgery was on your chest or abdomen, or if you already have a breathing-related health condition, such as smoking or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
There are some simple steps you can take after your surgery to reduce your chance of having a breathing complication.
Preventing respiratory infections after your surgery — AlfredHealthTV (video)
Speed up your recovery
After your surgery, your body will be working hard to heal and recover. While you might need to rest more than usual, it is important you keep working steadily towards increasing your activity levels back to normal.
There are lots of benefits to getting out of bed early and returning to your normal activities, such as:
- faster recovery from surgery and return to your normal level of health
- faster discharge from hospital
- better mood and energy levels
- less risk of chest infections or blood clots
- less constipation.
Set goals for yourself and aim to spend as much time out of bed as you can, including:
- sitting in a chair
- standing next to your bed
- taking short walks.
On the ward, the nurses and physiotherapists can help you with getting movement back (mobilisation) and give you pain relief if you need it.
You may feel thirsty after surgery. This is common. You are normally able to drink water soon after your operation. You can drink as much water as you feel able to.
You may feel like you have lost your appetite. Unless your type of surgery requires you not to eat, it is usually easier to eat little and often. If you feel sick you can ask for medicines to help reduce that feeling.
Manage your pain after surgery
After surgery, it is normal to have some discomfort or pain. Your pain can be reduced with medicines and using other aids and techniques. It is important that your pain is managed so that you feel comfortable and can keep working towards getting back to your normal level of activity.
Pain after surgery — Healthify
Pain relief might be offered to you in a number of ways.
Most pain relief after surgery can be taken by mouth, as oral medicines. These can be:
- simple pain relief medicines such as paracetamol and anti-inflammatories
- weak opioids such as codeine or tramadol
- strong opioids such as morphine.
Usually, you can have several different oral medicines at the same time.
During your surgery and in recovery, you will be given intravenous (IV) pain relief to make sure your pain is manageable.
With major surgery, you may be given a patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pump. This allows you to control your own pain relief. With the push of a button, the pump gives a set amount of opioid drug (such as morphine) into your vein. For safety, the pump is programmed to prevent overdose. You will be closely monitored on the surgical ward.
Local anaesthetic is used to numb the surgery area. It is injected during your operation but will continue working for several hours as you recover.
Regional anaesthesia (also known as a nerve block) can be used to provide pain relief when you are recovering from surgery.
Your anaesthetist gives an injection of local anaesthetic around a nerve or group of nerves to numb a larger area of your body. This can be done with a single injection or continued using an infusion of local anaesthetic — the numbness can last several hours to several days, depending on what is right for you and your surgery.
An epidural is a small, narrow tube inserted by your anaesthetist into your back — it allows local anaesthetic to be infused. This will help keep you comfortable. It is usually used after major surgery to the chest, abdomen or pelvis.
If you are having major surgery or have complex pain needs, you may be reviewed by an acute pain service after your procedure. This team of specialist doctors and nurses will help manage your pain after surgery. They will also help you come off the strong pain medicines as you recover.
Manage your pain after discharge from hospital
Pain after surgery can be managed with both medicines and non-medicine approaches, including:
- being active
- sleeping well
- connecting with friends and whānau
- treatments like physiotherapy and Rongoā Māori.
Non-medicine treatments for pain — Healthify
Depending on your surgery, you may be sent home (discharged) with a prescription for pain medicines for treating short term pain.
Pain relief medicines for short term pain — Healthify
After a major operation, you may be prescribed opioid pain relief, such as morphine. Opioid medicines are useful for treating severe short term pain. However, because they can cause serious side effects, opioid medicines should be used at the lowest possible dose, for the shortest possible time.
Opioid medicines for short term pain — Health Navigator Charitable Trust (video)
Discharge from hospital and after day surgery
When you have been discharged and are leaving hospital you will need a plan to continue your recovery and to avoid running into any problems.