Back and side pain post op?

[spunkyheather 10]

Hey! I am 4 days post op. Today, I have been having side pain and back pain. I am walking. Anyone experience that after they were sleeved?

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[gina171 626]

I had RNY, but I experienced lots of upper back pain....it was trapped gas.

Walk, heating pad, stretch carefully, pump your arms, walk some more.

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[nurseangel007 7]

I had terrible left side and back pain. I couldn't sleep because I couldn't get comfortable.Finally started getting better day 7. See if u can have toradol. It worked wonders. Keep walking. It gets better

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[nicugal36 53]

Yes.. Post op shoulder and back pain from the gas was more painful then the incisions.

Walk walk walk and then walk more. Also my doctor allowed me gas-x which I think helped. Hope you feel better

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[GettingHealthyAgain 1]

Hi - This may sound dumb, but I'm unclear on the source of the "gas" that people discuss, that may be causing the back and side pain I've had since being sleeved on August 30. I'm guessing that it's a different gas from air that we swallow when drinking, and that feels like a golf ball stuck in your sternum/throat, until you can work it free by moving and/or belching? That gas I'm very familiar with. But the aching pain in back and sides - if it's caused by gas, where does that gas come from?

When first waking up from surgery, there was a lot of pain in my middle back. Also some pressure on shoulders and chest, making it feel hard to breathe, similar to what I remembered from having the lap band. But the back pain this time was new. Didn't have that before with lap band surgeries.

For the first few days after surgery, I had practically no pain in my belly from the sutures. But my back ached so much that my husband and I joked that the surgeon and staff had hung me up and beat me like a pinata during surgery! And the back pain is in the middle of my back, which isn't where I normally have any back pain (my neck can hurt from too much computer time, and lumbar because of a bad disk, but mid-back usually isn't a problem). This feels like a small horse had danced across the middle of my back, and maybe jumped up and down a few times. The on-demand morphine at the hospital would make the pain disappear, but I had to pushing the button on schedule for the first 36 hours. Pain diminished considerably by end of second day. But 5 days out my back is still very achy. (my abdominal muscles are sore too, of course, feeling bruised, but that's to be expected with all the incisions.)

So...does anyone have an idea as to what they did during surgery to cause the back pain? If it's "gas", what is the source of the gas? I've read/heard that the surgical team injects gas (of some kind) into your abdominal cavity to create room for the surgeon to work, and that's the source of pressure, and it takes a while for the gas to work itself out. But I can't find any reference to this procedure when I do a web search. Is the "injected gas" story a myth, or does that really happen?

Or did they really hang me upsidedown and beat me like a pinata? I'll bet the video is on YouTube!

[GettingHealthyAgain 1]

Okay, just found this on https://obesitycontrolcenter.com/blog/2014/09/04/eliminate-intra-abdominal-co2-after-gastric-sleeve-surgery/ :

"A key element of Gastric Sleeve Surgery is the use of CO2 to “inflate” your abdominal cavity in order to have room to comfortably perform the procedure, but after surgery is over, there’s some remaining CO2 inside."

And on another website (http://drnowmd.com/find-the-procedure-right-for-you/gastric-sleeve/):

"... At least one of these incisions is used to insert a temporary device, called a trocar, which allows the doctor to introduce carbon dioxide gas into the abdomen, inflating it, thereby creating a larger workspace in the abdominal cavity."

So that explains gas introduced into the abdominal cavity, which can't be burped out, since it's not in the stomach/esophagus.

(side note: I see that my signature contains lots of info from my earlier lapband operation. Not sure where to go to edit that...)

[madadams 130]

Okay, just found this on https://obesitycontrolcenter.com/blog/2014/09/04/eliminate-intra-abdominal-co2-after-gastric-sleeve-surgery/ :

"A key element of Gastric Sleeve Surgery is the use of CO2 to “inflate” your abdominal cavity in order to have room to comfortably perform the procedure, but after surgery is over, there’s some remaining CO2 inside."

And on another website (http://drnowmd.com/find-the-procedure-right-for-you/gastric-sleeve/):

"... At least one of these incisions is used to insert a temporary device, called a trocar, which allows the doctor to introduce carbon dioxide gas into the abdomen, inflating it, thereby creating a larger workspace in the abdominal cavity."

So that explains gas introduced into the abdominal cavity, which can't be burped out, since it's not in the stomach/esophagus.

(side note: I see that my signature contains lots of info from my earlier lapband operation. Not sure where to go to edit that...)

That's absolutely true. After surgery they release as much of the gas as they can but some often gets stuck under the diaphragm. It's very common following any kind of laparoscopic surgery. In the UK we have peppermint cordial which is perfect for getting rid of it but I don't think you have it in the US. Maybe peppermint tea?

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[GettingHealthyAgain 1]

Thank you, Madadams! Peppermint tea is certainly worth a try. In part, it helps just to understand the source of the pressure/pain. I have arthritis/degenerative disk disease throughout my spine, so it might be that the pressure from residual "inflation gas" is irritating the arthritis.

I'm curious about how they go about "releasing" the CO2 gas used for inflation from your abdominal cavity? Do they use a vacuum of some kind? (I have this image of the surgical crew giving the patient a bear hug to squeeze the gas out )