One of the biggest concerns patients have with any surgery is the amount of pain they will have to endure afterwards. This is especially true in cases of breast augmentation and other cosmetic surgery procedures, as the patient is undergoing elective surgery and wants to have the best possible experience.
Pain itself can have a negative impact after surgery. In fact, it is the leading cause of hospital readmission after cosmetic surgery. When patients are in pain, they tend to breathe in short, shallow gasps, resulting in poor oxygen supply to the tissues which, in turn, affects healing. In addition, when the lungs do not fully expand, patients are more prone to additional complications such as pneumonia.
To prevent this, patients need pain relief. The traditional form is painkillers. The first problem with pills is that the effect of the pill goes up and down, so patients experience surges of pain. Secondly, too much of a dose can depress respiratory drive, which can be very damaging to healing tissues. Thus, a patient can get caught in a dangerous pattern cycle: a wave of pain, followed by taking more than the prescribed amount to control the pain because the pain pill takes time to work, followed by the danger of not breathing well enough because of the dose taken.
Pain pills also have the unfortunate effect of causing nausea. If the patient is in pain, so he takes a pain pill, he may get pain relief, but a lot of nausea, which means he is not able to drink as many fluids as he needs to replace the fluid loss during surgery. This dehydration can also be dangerous.
WHAT IS THE SOLUTION TO THE PAIN PROBLEM?
Pain pumps. They are not painkillers. Unlike painkillers that affect the brain and gut, the pain pump only pumps tiny amounts of anesthetic medication to the operated area. This means your mind remains clear. You are not nauseated, so you eat well and stay well hydrated.
My patients usually use a pain pump for 2 to 5 days after surgery. In some cases, you may need to take an analgesic, but since it is not for severe pain relief, the dose will be lower, which also means less chance of nausea.
