After Your Surgery

After your surgery, you will be taken care of to ensure you come out of the anesthesia well. You want to get home as soon as you can where you are most comfortable. Read below for details about your post-surgery care and talk to your doctor if you have questions.

After Inpatient Surgery

You will be transferred to the recovery room after your surgery. As you recover from anesthesia, specially trained nurses will care for you, closely monitor your vital signs and encourage you to take deep breaths and to cough.

Family members can be in the recovery room with you, but the number of visitors should be small. It also is important that you have time to rest.

Time spent in the recovery room varies by person. You will receive warm blankets and medication to keep you as comfortable as possible. You will then be brought to a regular patient room to continue your recovery.

After Same Day Surgery

After your surgery, you may be taken to the Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) for recovery, then returned to the Same Day Surgery Unit where nurses will prepare you for discharge.

Most patients can go home about one to two hours after surgery.

Before you leave the hospital, you will receive written instructions and any prescriptions ordered by your doctor.

It is natural to feel drowsy after having general anesthesia or sedation. You also may have muscle aches, a sore throat or a headache. These feelings will wear off after you get home.

Avoid doing anything that requires important decision-making or mental concentration for 24 hours after general anesthesia or sedation. This includes driving or operating machinery.

A day or two after you return home, MaineGeneral staff will call you to see how you are feeling. Please mention any concerns you have.

If you have any problems before your follow-up call, please call your doctor or the hospital, and the switchboard will contact the surgeon on call.