They may also instruct you on how to splint your chest for deep breathing and coughing. A thoracotomy may be performed for a variety of reasons, and the results dependent on the reason for the procedure. If a thoracotomy is performed to remove a mass, tissue will be sent to the lab for evaluation. Some results can take multiple days to finalize. Your care team will typically schedule a follow-up visit within two weeks to discuss your results.
Immediate risks from the surgery include infection, bleeding, persistent air leakage from your lung and pain. Pain is the most commonly encountered complication of this procedure, and pain along the ribs and site of incision will most likely subside over days to weeks. However, a late thoracotomy risk is post-thoracotomy pain syndrome. This syndrome involves persistent chest pain related to nerve damage that continues months after undergoing a thoracotomy.
Life-threatening injury from a thoracotomy is rare. If your doctor prescribed antibiotics, take them as directed. Do not stop taking them just because you feel better. You need to take the full course of antibiotics. If you have strips of tape on the incision, leave the tape on for a week or until it falls off. Wash the area daily with warm, soapy water, and pat it dry. Don't use hydrogen peroxide or alcohol, which may delay healing. You may cover the area with a gauze bandage if it weeps or rubs against clothing.
Change the bandage every day. Keep the area clean and dry. To help keep your lungs clear, cough and do deep breathing exercises as you are told by your doctor, nurse, or respiratory therapist. Your doctor may send you home with an incentive spirometer. This device helps you practise taking deep breaths, which can help keep your lungs healthy.
Ask your doctor about exercises to keep your arm and shoulder muscles strong and flexible while you recover. For example, call if: You passed out lost consciousness. You have severe trouble breathing. You have sudden chest pain and shortness of breath, or you cough up blood. Call your doctor or nurse call line now or seek immediate medical care if: You are sick to your stomach or cannot keep fluids down. You have pain that does not get better after you take pain medicine. You have loose stitches, or your incision comes open.
Bright red blood has soaked through the bandage over your incision. You have signs of infection, such as: Increased pain, swelling, warmth, or redness. Red streaks leading from the incision. Pus draining from the incision. Swollen lymph nodes in your neck, armpits, or groin. A fever. You cough up a lot more mucus than normal, or your mucus changes colour.
Current as of: October 26, Home About MyHealth. Include Images Large Print. You may continue your usual sexual activities. You probably will not have the energy to be very active, so pace yourself. Rest when you get tired. Stop and catch your breath if you get winded. Exercise Relaxation and deep breathing exercises are important to help expand your lungs and to help clear them of mucous.
The staff will teach you how to do these exercises at home. Use your incentive spirometer at home and take 15 breaths an hour with it, while you are awake you do not need to wake up to do them every hour. Keep using the incentive spirometer until your follow-up visit. Balance exercise with periods of rest until you regain your strength. This can take from days. In weeks you should be back to full activity and feel more like yourself.
Take a couple of short walks outside each day unless the weather is bad. Walking is excellent exercise. Taking deep breaths while walking will increase your strength.
Avoid push-ups, chin-ups, or lifting weights for at least weeks. Your muscles need to heal and regain their strength. Be aware of your posture. Temporary tubes in your chest drain fluid, blood, and air that may have collected around your lungs during the surgery. These tubes will stay in place for a few days. Your ribs are then repaired and the wound closed with sutures or staples.
The entire procedure takes two to five hours. Your doctor will give you medicine to help manage the pain. Usually the pain will go away in a few days or weeks. Nurses monitor your heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, and oxygen levels. You may need to spend the first day after surgery in an intensive care unit ICU. During that time, the medical staff will check you for possible complications of your surgery. It may be hard for you to breathe at first. Ease back into your normal activities only when you feel ready.
Your outlook depends on the condition that caused you to need surgery. For example, if you have cancer, your outlook will depend on the stage of your disease and the type of surgery performed to treat it. The incision should heal within a couple of months.
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