Question:
Is it true that patients often get air bubbles trapped in their intra-abdominal space

Is is true that when the surgeon fills your abdominal cavity with air in order to see well during the surgery that the air can become caught after the surgery and cause pain?    — J C. (posted on July 7, 2003)

July 7, 2003
Oh yes!! After surgery, I had air trapped and had pain under my left rib cage. It lasted about 2 weeks. My incision didn't hurt at all. If it hadn't been for that trapped air, I would have felt like a million bucks!
   — Terri G.

July 7, 2003
My aunt had laproscopic gallbladder surgery and experienced trapped air that resulted in intense pain that was worse then the surgery itself....it took her 6 months to feel normal again... due to the "trapped air" complication....her duration of pain is unusual some people only have a few weeks of discomfort but her's was a doosy....because of the way I saw her suffer from these air bubbles I opted for the open RNY.... also laproscopic surgery wether it be in regards to WLS or not has a higher rate of complications nationwide... it mostly due to the amount of skill needed to perform surgeries laproscopically...
   — E. V.

July 7, 2003
They can never remove 100% of the gas, but they sure try hard. Once in a while a pocket of the gas will be trapped under an organ and it can be painful, but I would consider this "air bubble" a fairly uncommon problem - some gas is always left and painful, but nothing compared to an open wound. By moving around a lot, walking, you can absorb the gas and get rid of it a whole lot quicker than the recovery time involved in an open procedure. Of course, they are good reasons for each version.
   — bethybb

July 7, 2003
All this having been said, I had laparoscopic gall bladder surgery 2 years ago and had not even a twinge of pain from gas left trapped inside. Go figure, but I'm not complaining ;o).
   — Chyrl W.