Recovery

Wound Care

• Always wash your hands before and after touching near your incision site.

• Do not soak in a bathtub until your stitches, Steri-Strips, or staples are removed. You may shower after your second postoperative day unless you are told not to.

• Follow your surgeon’s instructions on when to change your bandages.

• A small amount of drainage from the incision in normal. If the dressing is soaked with blood, call your surgeon.

• If you have Steri-Strips in place they will fall off in 7 to 10 days.

• If you have a glue-like covering over the incision, let it flake off on its own.

• Avoid wearing tight or rough clothing. Rough fabrics may rub your incisions and make it harder for them to heal.

• Your scars will heal in about 4 to 6 weeks and will become softer, and will continue to fade over the next year.

Activity

• Slowly increase your activity. Try to get up every hour or so to prevent blood clot formation.

• Patients usually take 1 to 3 weeks to return comfortably to normal activity.

• You may go home the same day after a laparoscopic repair. If you have any other heath conditions or complications such as nausea, vomiting, breathing difficulties, or difficulty passing urine, you may stay longer.

• You can usually return to work 1 week after laparoscopic or open repair, as long as you do not do any heavy lifting. Discuss the timing with your surgeon.

• Do not lift any items that are heavier than 10 pounds, or participate in strenuous activity for 4 to 6 weeks.

When to Contact your Surgeon

Contact your surgeon if you have:

• Pain that will not go away

• Pain that gets worse

• A fever of more that 101°F or 38 °C

• Continuous vomiting

• Swelling, redness, bleeding, or bad-smelling drainage from your wound site

• Strong or continuous abdominal pain or swelling of your abdomen

• No bowel movement for 2 to 3 days after your operation