Recovery Times For Common Surgeries

The word “surgery” instills some amount of fear in the mind of any person who has been told to undergo surgery.
The immediate questions which arise in any person’s head regarding surgery are whether it is absolutely necessary and what would be the recovery time for surgeries.

When is Surgery Necessary?

Surgeries are advised in those cases where medications have no role to play or when all options for conservative management have been exhausted.

For example, a person has been having recurrent tonsillitis over the last 10-15 years; now the episodes of tonsillitis have become severe enough to result in complications. It is now that the doctor will advise the patient to get the tonsils removed surgically.

For patients as well as doctors/ surgeons, surgery remains the last choice of management for any disease condition

Recovery Time for Surgeries

Recovery time for surgeries ideally depend upon the following:

• The Type of Surgery one has to go under determines recovery time for surgeries.
  Some surgeries are minor, that is, they are done within a span of few minutes or an hour; whereas there are some which have take longer durations.
• Duration of Surgery influences the recovery time for surgeries. Surgeries of longer duration may demand a recovery time of few weeks or even months.
• Site of Surgery. Surgeries involving delicate areas like neck, eyes, ears, brain, spine and heart require longer durations of rest.
  Similarly, recovering from abdominal surgeries without complications is equally crucial because our entire process of digestion depends upon healthy abdominal organs.
• Complications During Surgery. A surgery which has encountered complications like infections, excessive bleeding or thrombo-embolism need to be monitored closely post-operatively.
• Pre-existing Illness and Physical Fitness Prior to Surgery. Recovery time for surgeries can be prolonged if the patient has some co-morbidity like hypertension or diabetes.
• Post-operative Care. Surgery involving delicate organs like heart, brain, spine and neck or large wounds and complicated surgical procedures require close monitoring and optimum care for speedy recovery.

Each person’s experience of a particular surgery can be different. The below mentioned table is simply an average of recovery times. Some patients may recovery early from a particular surgery while the other may take slightly longer.

Some Common Surgeries With Their Average Recovery Time (To Return To Work) Are Given in the Tables Below

Some orthopedic surgeries especially of fractures require you to undergo a repeat surgery to remove screws, plates and wires which are used for re-union of bones.

In case of surgeries for renal stones, stents are placed in the kidneys after stone fragmentation to enable proper drainage of urine. The patient needs to undergo a cystoscopy after 2-3 weeks for removal of the stent.

The list of common surgical procedures mentioned above may take shorter or longer recovery times and may vary from person to person depending upon each individual body’s reaction towards surgery. Recovery time for surgeries is also greatly influenced by each patient’s immunity and willingness to cooperate with the health care methods.

Although going for surgery can be nerve wrecking. Yet, expecting a speedy recovery and instant relief as soon as you come out of the operation theatre is ideally not possible since the body is trying to heal itself from the surgical trauma.

Likewise, patients and their immediate relatives need to be counselled about what they must expect during or after the surgery so that they are mentally prepared.