SURGICAL RECOVERY

STAY SAFE AT THE HOSPITAL:  Two of the main risks at any hospitalization are medical errors and infections.  They are largely out of the doctor’s control but family and friends can help mitigate the risk by having a friend or relative there with you during the time to ask questions, monitor hand washing and administration of medication, make sure catheters and IV lines are kept clean and removed when they are no longer needed (that doesn’t always happen), and speak up in general if something doesn’t seem right.  If that is not possible, consider hiring a private-duty nurse for the job.

“It may set back your recovery,” warns Della Valle, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon in the Hospital for Special Surgery and an associate professor of orthopedic surgery a Weill Cornell Medical College in New York.  “Good pain control allows them to rehabilitate faster and develop a range of motion.”  Taking pain killers, if needed, can also make it easier to breathe and cough, which opens the airways and clears out secretions that can increase the risk of pneumonia,” adds Ann Bauman, M.D., medical director for women’s health and community relations.  “A combination of narcotic painkillers, anesthesia, and restricted food and drink may require stool softeners.  A high fiber diet may need plenty of fluids to help get things moving again.  As for the bladder, one risk is urinary retention, or the inability to urinate despite having a full bladder, a possible side effect of certain medications.”   The treatment is catheterization. 

TEND TO YOUR INCISION:  Common errors include touching the incision with unwashed hands and applying peroxide, lotion or antibiotic ointment to it.  Don’t bathe or swim until your doctor says it is OK, because water can soften the skin and cause the incision to pull apart.  Don’t pick at the scab.  Incisions should be checked several times a day.  Ask about taking walks when returning home, necessary to help the system get moving again.  Patients recovering from open heart surgery have to learn to get out of chairs without using their hands to avoid straining the breastbone, which was cut in half during surgery.  “Older patients are more vulnerable and may feel disoriented that can cause postsurgical delirium or acute alteration of the mental state but doesn’t always completely resolve and can lead to cognitive impairment when using sedatives,” according to Sharon K. Inouye, M.D., M.P.H., professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.