Question:
My MD will be using a PCA Pump for pain,
Has anyone requested to use another type of pain management post-op? — thachoclatediva (posted on April 6, 2006)
April 6, 2006
I miss my PCA pump! haha! It was a lovely thing. They took it away
because there wasn't a lot of pain and I didn't use it much. But when I
had it, it was my friend! LOL! Just had to push a little button and
nighty- night!
sorry I didn't help with a new answer, but the pump wasn't bad....
— TeriC
April 6, 2006
PCA, or Patient Controlled Analgesia, is a good thing! Studies have shown
that when PCAs are used, the patient overall uses less pain medication. And
being morbidly obese, that is a good thing. Most pain medications depress
your respiratoy center, so you breath slower, and usually not as deeply,
which helps set you up for possible pneumonia. With PCA, you can give
yourself a small dose of pain medication through your IV when you feel you
need it. There is a lock out interval (usually about 6 minutes) so you
can't give yourself an overdose. I had lap RNY and had my PCA for the first
24 hours. After that, I was given Toradol through my IV every six hours. I
really had no pain to speak of the entire time, nor was I wiped out or
groggy. I went home on the second day, and I didn't need or take much oral
pain medication then. If you have had problems with certain medications in
the past, then let the surgeon and anesthesiologist know ahead of time.
There are multiple meds that can be used in a PCA. (In other words, I let
them know ahead of time that Demerol makes me throw up, so they knew not to
give me PCA Demerol after surgery.) If you have specific reasons for nto
wanting PCA, I am sure you can be accommodated; just talk to your surgeon
about this, so you and he are comfortable with your post op care.
— koogy
April 6, 2006
When I woke up from abdominal surgery (not wls), I was thrilled to have a
little pump so that I could administer medication whenever I was in pain
... however, I couldn't stand morphine as it made me very nauseous. They
switched me to an oral medication (tylenol with codeine???), and I felt
much better. For most people, though, I am sure that morphine is a
godsend.
— peacefuldaizy
April 6, 2006
MY RNY had been performed laparoscopically. I was given dillaudid by mouth
but only needed it for less than 72 hours following surgery. And, as much
of a wimp as I was about pain, I just didn't have the burning, intense pain
that I had experienced with several knee surgeries.
— SteveColarossi
April 6, 2006
I had an open RNY 3 years ago and was on a PCA in addition to a morphine
continuous IV. It was helpful in controlling the pain, but it's true that
every time I pushed the button, I fell asleep for about 10 minutes. That
extra little bolus made everything feel much better. After 24 hours I was
taken off of the PCA and within 36 hours off of the morphine IV as my pain
was actually being controlled very well. I also wanted to mention that I
was in a study group ath the time for this device called and On-Q. I
didn't know I was going to be getting it prior to the surgery, but I feel
like it probably did make a huge difference in the reduction of
complications and pain. The On-Q is an elastomeric pump (looks like a thick
small water balloon with a valve that was put in a little fanny pack type
pouch that I could wear or hang on the side of my bed. It was filled with
an antibiotic and lidocaine (an analgesic they use to numb things). Anyhow
a small then catheter was threaded into my abdominal cavity through a small
hole in my belly (a few inches below my incision). Essentially this
medicine was pumped into my abdominal area and 'bathed' my organs in the
antibiotic/lidocaine. Some of the fluid did leak back out through the
incision, but it was kept in until I left the hospital 4 days later and the
catheter was just pulled out of my belly. I didn't have to do any prep for
the surgery other than not eat from midnight the night before my
surgery...but other than that -- no bowel cleansing, enemas, special
liquids, etc. I didn't get any infections, and my pain (other than the
first day) felt more like extremely sore pulled muscles (like I did 10,000
sit ups), rather than any sharp pain. Just thought I'd let you know about
the On-Q...and wanted to see if anyone else had one of these as well.
— angelav
April 7, 2006
I had the PCA pump at first, but asked the nurses if they could give me
something else because it was making mouth SO DRY. They switched me to a
combination of an IV injection and some other shot in the butt. The pump
did a better job with the pain but the others didn't have the horrible dry
mouth side effect.
— blues-singer
April 7, 2006
I had an Open RNY on 3/16/06. I also had the PCA and the ON-Q both at the
same time. They were wonderful. Only felt soreness, not severe pain. The
ON-Q actually stays in you and goes home with you. The doctor gave me
specific instructions of when to remove the very small thin catheters from
my incision. It was very easy, and painless. I received liquid Loratab
for pain relief at home, but I didn't use any, since it was just
uncomfortable, not in severe pain.
— Veronica
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