What is Postoperative Care?

Postoperative care is given to patients after undergoing surgery. Attentive postoperative care, also called post-op, is vital to a healthy and safe recovery from the physiologically taxing process of surgery. Patients in post-op are monitored carefully by medical professionals for signs of infections or complications.

Though surgery has advanced tremendously throughout the last two centuries, it remains a risky process. Even in a perfect surgery where everything goes according to plan, most patients will still experience weakness and a high vulnerability to infection following the physically traumatic experience of major surgery. Postoperative care tries to minimize the risk of post-op complications while allowing the patient to regain strength.

Postoperative care begins immediately after the surgery completes, sometimes while the patient is still in the operating room. Depending on the type of surgery, the patient may need to have airway devices, such as intubation, removed so that normal breathing resumes. Those under heavy anesthesia may need to be given drugs, like vasoconstrictors, that reverse the anesthesia effect.

Depending on the type of surgery and overall status of the patient, the majority of the recovery process may take place in a critical care unit or a more general recovery area. Access to these areas may be restricted in order to lower chances of infection to patients. Once in the appropriate postoperative unit, the patient is continuously monitored and examined to see how he or she is coping in the wake of the surgery. Everything from vital signs to bodily fluid output to level of consciousness are used to determine the status of the patient.

With minor surgeries, postoperative care may last a few hours, or may even be done in the patient's home. Recovery following oral surgery is usually done at home under the supervision of a competent adult who can watch for adverse reactions or signs of infections. With major surgery, post-op care may last days or even weeks, particularly if complications develop.

In addition to careful monitoring, two of the main goals of postoperative care are the prevention of infection and the comfort of the patient. The stress of surgery often dampens the immune systems, making patients extremely vulnerable to illness and infection following a surgical procedure. Since hospitals are unavoidable sources of many infections, hygiene standards in postoperative units are generally extremely high. Making sure the patient is comfortable and having his or her needs met is also a vital part of this process, since surgery can be an emotional and mental stress as well as a physical one. By providing a high standard of good care and concern, postoperative workers can help a weak patient get on the road to recovery faster.