Question:
Has anyone experience shoulder pain? I was told it was from the anasthesia.

I am 5 days post-op and feeling pretty good, except for a pretty constant pain in my left shoulder. Before I left the hospital they told me it was probably from the anasthesia and would work itself out. My question is WHEN?!! I'm using a heating pad, which helps and taking hot showers. Has anyone else experienced this?    — Julie P. (posted on October 6, 2001)

October 6, 2001
If you had your procedure laproscopically it is from the CO2 (carbon dioxide) that they fill your op site with to help your Doctor visualize the operative area. Usually they try very hard to get all of the gas out after the procedure but a certain amount lingers that they are unable to get out. It will eventually reabsorbe and the pain will go away.
   — Laureen59

October 6, 2001
The other answer is correct. It's from having a lap procedure - they pump you up on the inside and not all the CO2 goes away. You'll be fine in a few days.
   — careywatkins

October 6, 2001
I had open RNY and I had extreme pain in my left shoulder when I questioned my doctor he said it was probaly due to the retractors he had to use during surgery. All I know is that nothing helped and finally after about 2 weeks it went away. Good luck to you.
   — susan V.

October 8, 2005
Actually you are all somewhat right and somewhat wrong. Most surgeons believe it is from the CO2 getting trapped inside the body that causes this. It is actually the CO2 they use is drying out the peritoneum which leads to an inflammatory response which leads to the shoulder pain. There is only one way to combat this that is known among some (very few) surgeons. The answer is to humidify the CO2 gas. There are about 50 studies out which show that by humidifying the gas you can drastically reduce the chance of shoulder pain and sometimes completely eliminate it. The only problem is most surgeons do not know this, but the ones who are educated about this can definitely tell you the difference this makes. If I was having any laparascopic surgery I would make sure my surgeon knew about this and did it. I will post this to the other shoulder related issues so that hopefully I can at least help anyone who is going to have this surgery.
   — Katherine Y.