Question:
My MD will be using a PCA Pump for pain,

Has anyone requested to use another type of pain management post-op?    — thachoclatediva (posted on April 6, 2006)

April 6, 2006
I miss my PCA pump! haha! It was a lovely thing. They took it away because there wasn't a lot of pain and I didn't use it much. But when I had it, it was my friend! LOL! Just had to push a little button and nighty- night! sorry I didn't help with a new answer, but the pump wasn't bad....
   — TeriC

April 6, 2006
PCA, or Patient Controlled Analgesia, is a good thing! Studies have shown that when PCAs are used, the patient overall uses less pain medication. And being morbidly obese, that is a good thing. Most pain medications depress your respiratoy center, so you breath slower, and usually not as deeply, which helps set you up for possible pneumonia. With PCA, you can give yourself a small dose of pain medication through your IV when you feel you need it. There is a lock out interval (usually about 6 minutes) so you can't give yourself an overdose. I had lap RNY and had my PCA for the first 24 hours. After that, I was given Toradol through my IV every six hours. I really had no pain to speak of the entire time, nor was I wiped out or groggy. I went home on the second day, and I didn't need or take much oral pain medication then. If you have had problems with certain medications in the past, then let the surgeon and anesthesiologist know ahead of time. There are multiple meds that can be used in a PCA. (In other words, I let them know ahead of time that Demerol makes me throw up, so they knew not to give me PCA Demerol after surgery.) If you have specific reasons for nto wanting PCA, I am sure you can be accommodated; just talk to your surgeon about this, so you and he are comfortable with your post op care.
   — koogy

April 6, 2006
When I woke up from abdominal surgery (not wls), I was thrilled to have a little pump so that I could administer medication whenever I was in pain ... however, I couldn't stand morphine as it made me very nauseous. They switched me to an oral medication (tylenol with codeine???), and I felt much better. For most people, though, I am sure that morphine is a godsend.
   — peacefuldaizy

April 6, 2006
MY RNY had been performed laparoscopically. I was given dillaudid by mouth but only needed it for less than 72 hours following surgery. And, as much of a wimp as I was about pain, I just didn't have the burning, intense pain that I had experienced with several knee surgeries.
   — SteveColarossi

April 6, 2006
I had an open RNY 3 years ago and was on a PCA in addition to a morphine continuous IV. It was helpful in controlling the pain, but it's true that every time I pushed the button, I fell asleep for about 10 minutes. That extra little bolus made everything feel much better. After 24 hours I was taken off of the PCA and within 36 hours off of the morphine IV as my pain was actually being controlled very well. I also wanted to mention that I was in a study group ath the time for this device called and On-Q. I didn't know I was going to be getting it prior to the surgery, but I feel like it probably did make a huge difference in the reduction of complications and pain. The On-Q is an elastomeric pump (looks like a thick small water balloon with a valve that was put in a little fanny pack type pouch that I could wear or hang on the side of my bed. It was filled with an antibiotic and lidocaine (an analgesic they use to numb things). Anyhow a small then catheter was threaded into my abdominal cavity through a small hole in my belly (a few inches below my incision). Essentially this medicine was pumped into my abdominal area and 'bathed' my organs in the antibiotic/lidocaine. Some of the fluid did leak back out through the incision, but it was kept in until I left the hospital 4 days later and the catheter was just pulled out of my belly. I didn't have to do any prep for the surgery other than not eat from midnight the night before my surgery...but other than that -- no bowel cleansing, enemas, special liquids, etc. I didn't get any infections, and my pain (other than the first day) felt more like extremely sore pulled muscles (like I did 10,000 sit ups), rather than any sharp pain. Just thought I'd let you know about the On-Q...and wanted to see if anyone else had one of these as well.
   — angelav

April 7, 2006
I had the PCA pump at first, but asked the nurses if they could give me something else because it was making mouth SO DRY. They switched me to a combination of an IV injection and some other shot in the butt. The pump did a better job with the pain but the others didn't have the horrible dry mouth side effect.
   — blues-singer

April 7, 2006
I had an Open RNY on 3/16/06. I also had the PCA and the ON-Q both at the same time. They were wonderful. Only felt soreness, not severe pain. The ON-Q actually stays in you and goes home with you. The doctor gave me specific instructions of when to remove the very small thin catheters from my incision. It was very easy, and painless. I received liquid Loratab for pain relief at home, but I didn't use any, since it was just uncomfortable, not in severe pain.
   — Veronica