What Happens After Esophagus Surgery?

 The esophagus plays a vital part in our functioning, as it is the tube that enabled food to be moved from your throat when you swallow through to your stomach. This tube, which is around eight inches in length, is made up of muscles, which then contract to move food and drink along to your stomach.

 Anyone that suffers from cancer of the esophagus or from severe damage of the stomach may find that they are in need of surgery. Either a section or the entire esophagus may need to be removed depending on the condition and the extent of the damage.  In the event that the entire esophagus has to be removed, it is then rebuilt using sections of either the stomach or the large intestine.

What to expect

 As you can imagine, this is a major surgery and the recovery period can be lengthy depending on the surgery carried out and any complications that may have arisen. You may need to spend a day or two in a high dependency ward immediately after the surgery, as this is a big operation. Being in this type of unit means that medics can keep a closer eye on you.

There will be a number of tubes in you when you come round for the surgery. These serve functions such as administering fluids, draining blood and fluid, draining the chest, and even checking on your blood pressure. In addition, once you start to come round properly and the anesthetic wears off, you will experience some pain and discomfort but will receive painkillers to help deal with this.

After a couple of days, you may be moved to a standard ward but you should expect to be in hospital for around ten days or so. After the surgery, you will have dressings applied to the wounds, and these will be changed after a couple of days and the wounds cleaned by medical staff. In addition, the clips or stitches that you have will stay in for around ten days and are generally removed prior to you leaving the hospital to go home. In the event you cannot have them taken out before being discharged, a nurse may come out to do this or you may have to return to hospital to have them removed.

Prior to your discharge, it is important that you pay careful attention to the information provided to you in relation to caring for your wounds while you heal.

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