You will be admitted to the either the hospital or the out-patient surgery center on the morning of surgery. The surgery is performed under general anesthetic. The average length of surgery ranges from 30 minutes to 1 hour. You will wake up in the recovery room after surgery, often not remembering everything. In the recovery room, you will have at least one intravenous line in your arm or neck. Some patients have very little pain after surgery, while others have enough pain that they require narcotic pain medications. Many patients complain of pain in the shoulder area, which is "referred" pain due to the effect of the laparoscopic carbon dioxide against the diaphragm. Your post-operative pain will be initially controlled by intravenous medicines given by the nurses in the recovery room.
After surgery, most patients are either admitted to the regular hospital surgery floor or discharged home. If you are admitted to the hospital, you will be allowed to take liquids by mouth as tolerated. You will be asked to get out of bed that evening as early activity will decrease the risks of developing pneumonia or blood clots in the legs. To further help prevent blood clots, compression devices will be placed on your calves or feet and you will receive a subcutaneous injection of blood thinner, such as Heparin, while in the hospital.
The morning after surgery, you may be taken to the radiology department for an upper GI study where you swallow some x-ray dye to be confirm the position of the band. Unfortunately, most patients find the x-ray dye tastes fairly unpleasant. After this study, you will be discharged later in the morning.
Whether surgery is done as an out-patient or with an overnight hospital stay, you will be discharged when you are able to:
- Take enough liquids by mouth to prevent dehydration
- Have adequate pain control with oral medication
Your incisions will have clear dressings over them which should be removed prior to discharge. Underneath these dressings will be small bandages called "steri-strips" which will either come off on their own at home or can be taken off in the shower. Underneath the steri-strips, your incisions will have absorbable sutures holding them closed. These sutures dissolve on their own. You should be able to shower as early as the first day after surgery.
After discharge from the hospital, you will follow-up in our offices approximately three weeks after surgery for routine check-up. If you have any concerns during those three weeks, you should telephone our office.
information on After Surgery
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