Post surgery constipation... :-)

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Clearwater AL

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Get Real
It's so common and so many people suffer from it when they get home after surgery I wonder if there is a secret ingredient in the anesthetics. Like, "We'll plug 'em up while they're here and they can deal with that when they get home."

PS. If it's true I'd bet your room nurses really appreciate it. :)
 
Opiates do that. Opium used to be taken for diarrhea, probably still is.
 
Post-op constipation isn't due to an ingredient in anesthesia, it is the overall effect of anesthesia. Putting someone out puts the digestive tract to sleep and it doesn't wake up as quickly as the rest of the body. It can be a few days before your intestines are active again. You will get the jello and broth menu until rumbling bowel sounds can be heard with a stethoscope. Passing gas is music to the ears of your nurse, and a bowel movement may be your ticket home. At least it used to be. Today's short stays and outpatient surgeries send patients home before the bowels are back on line. Adding pain medications increases the potential for problems because they are similarly sedating to bowel function. One way to get the bowels moving again is getting out of bed and walking. That puts PALS at higher risk of constipation. Taking a stool softener such as Colace or Docusate daily for a few days before surgery will soften the stool and make it move more easily through the intestines, but only if you take in enough fluids to allow it to work. Once home after surgery, continue the stool softener. Don't eat solid food until bowel sounds return. (Easily heard by a spouse with an ear on your lower abdomen or a caregiver with a stethoscope.) If nothing is gurgling in three days, let your doctor know that you do not have bowel sounds yet. Don't say you are constipated -- you will be told not to expect a bowel movement so soon. At five days call again and let him know nothing is moving and if you are nauseated or vomiting. A laxative can help get things moving.
 
Shortage of magnesium in the diet will cause muscle cramps.
Excess magnesium will move the bowels.
 
Well... everything is fine. I did all that was recommended. I just wondered with all of the wonders of modern medicine there'd be something they could put in your IV to prevent that. That's why I was making joke out of the, ""We'll plug 'em up while they're here and they can deal with that when they get home."

My wife had it bad after her surgery and we found that a mineral oil enema did the trick. A lot of pharmacies don't carry them. (She was in the hospital 4 days after her surgery... it wasn't a big concern before they sent her home. I remember it used to be though.)
 
Well... there's another reply that went to moderation in less than 20 minutes.
 
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