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You will be admitted to the hospital on the morning of surgery. The surgery is performed under general anesthetic. The average length of surgery ranges from 1 to 2 hours. You will wake up in the recovery room after surgery, often not remembering everything. In the recovery room, you will have at least one intravenous line in your arm or neck, and will still have a urinary catheter draining your bladder. Most patients do not have a naso-gastric tube left in place. Some patients have very little pain after surgery, while others have enough pain that they require narcotic pain medications. Many patients complain of pain in the shoulder area, which is "referred" pain due to the effect of the laparoscopic carbon dioxide against the diaphragm. Your post-operative pain will be initially controlled by intravenous medicines given by the nurses in the recovery room. When you leave the recovery room, you will have a PCA machine attached to your intravenous line that will allow you to give yourself pain medication.
After surgery, most patients are admitted to the regular hospital surgery floor, though occasionally patients will be admitted to intensive care for observation. During the evening after surgery, you will not be allowed to take any liquids by mouth. However, you will be asked to get out of bed that evening as early activity will decrease the risks of developing pneumonia or blood clots in the legs. To further help prevent blood clots, compression devices will be placed on your calves or feet and you will receive a subcutaneous injection of blood thinner, such as Heparin, while in the hospital.
The morning after surgery, you be will started on liquids. Before this, you may be taken to the radiology department for an upper GI study where you swallow some x-ray dye to be certain there is no leakage from the new stomach pouch. Unfortunately, most patients find the x-ray dye tastes fairly unpleasant. After this study, you will be started on clear liquids. As well, your activity level will be increased, you will start taking liquid pain medications by mouth, and you will have your urinary catheter removed. Most patients stay in the hospital 1 or 2 days after a laparoscopic procedure. You will be discharged when you are able to:
- Take enough liquids by mouth to prevent dehydration
- Have no fever
- Have adequate pain control with oral medication
Your incisions will have clear dressings over them which should be removed prior to discharge. Underneath these dressings will be small bandages called "steri-strips" which will either come off on their own at home or can be taken off in the shower. Underneath the steri-strips, your incisions will have absorbable sutures holding them closed. These sutures dissolve on their own. You should be able to shower as early as the first day after surgery.
After discharge from the hospital, you will follow-up in our offices approximately three weeks after surgery for routine check-up. If you have any concerns during those three weeks, you should telephone our office.
information on After Surgery
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