Abdominal Surgery

Surgery on the abdomen is commonly referred to as "General Surgery".

A cannula (a drip) is inserted into your arm before you are anaesthetised.

You will have monitoring placed on your:

• finger, which measures your oxygen level, 
• arm; which measures blood pressure
• chest, which monitors your heart's electrical activity

You will be asked to transfer onto a specialised bed.

Medication will be administered and you will drift off to sleep.

At the conclusion of the anaesthetic, you may emerge with a some disorientation and it is expected that you may have a degree of discomfort in your abdomen as a consequence of the procedure. Ongoing pain management will continue in the post anaesthesia recov

It is common for individuals undergoing Liver, Pancreatic, Gastric and other major abdominal surgery to have additional specialised monitoring and preparation such as:

• arterial blood pressure monitoring - a cannula into your artery in the wrist
• central venous pressure monitoring- a cannula into a large vein in either the neck or upper chest
• urine output- a catheter into the bladder

These facilitate the administration of anaesthesia, optimising your care.

These procedures are undertaken AFTER you are anaesthetised.

Depending upon the nature of the surgery, you will need to take time to recover.

Pain will be addressed and you will be given medication to keep you comfortable whilst you recover.

Laparoscopic (key hole or minimally invasive) surgery lends itself to a hastier recovery, however to return to normal function may still take weeks.

Major abdominal surgery will need patience and effort to rehabilitate oneself- mobilising, chest physiotherapy and good diet are paramount.