Every patient who visits my office with a surgical condition has several decisions to make and has a lot of information to absorb and understand.
I typically spend much of our time together describing the condition itself, why I recommend surgery, how I will perform the surgery and any risks involved in the procedure. While this is all critical to anyone’s understanding of their treatment plan, once the decision has been made to proceed with surgery, many patients’ concerns quickly turn to their recovery and what to expect after surgery. Most patients want to know when they can get back to walking, lifting, exercising, and their normal daily routine. While every patient and procedure is different, some generalizations can be made to help you know what to expect.
General abdominal surgery can broadly be separated into two categories: 1) open surgery where a large incision is made through the abdominal wall and 2) laparoscopic (or robotic) surgery where the procedure is preformed through multiple small incisions. Both types of surgery are used for a wide array of surgical problems.
The recovery from these two types can be different. Every patient should ask their surgeon wound care questions, dietary restrictions or signs of possible complications specifically related to their recommended procedure. There will be activity restrictions in the early postoperative period for all surgical procedures.
Many people wonder why we limit activity after ..
