After surgery

You wake up in the recovery room after surgery where the staff ensure your pain is managed, that your general medical status is safe before letting you back to the ward.

You are here for about an hour. You will not remember a lot of what is said at this stage.

If you have had arthroscopic surgery you will have a large padded dressing on the shoulder. This is removed 12-24 hours after surgery.

If you have had open surgery you may have a surgical drain in-situ. This stays for 12-24 hours before removal. This drain comes out easily and with minimal discomfort.

During the surgery we inject local anaesthetic which provides pain relief for the first 12 hours. As this wears off pain may increase. Take the pain relief medication which will be prescribed.

Dressing that are put on in theatre should be kept clean and dry until you are reviewed 10-14 days later at which point they are taken off.

Underneath the dressing are adhesive paper dressings over the wound. These too stay until the main dressing is removed.

Sutures are dissolvable and do not need to be removed. ( there are some unusual occasions where nylon sutures are used and these are taken out when the dressing comes down).

If the wound dressing falls off do not worry just get a clean dressing and replace it.

We do not recommend waterproof dressings as these do not breath and some individuals will get quite severe acne like skin infections beneath them.

You will typically have a simple sling on when you wake up. Once you are back on the ward and alert you can remove the arm from the sling and place it on pillows where it may be more comfortable. Simply gently repositioning the arm will do no harm.

Most patients stay overnight after surgery. 5-10% of individuals may need to stay an extra night if pain, nausea or other problems such as urinary retention are a problem.

Following surgery the physiotherapy team will show you some simple exercises to help with comfort allowing very gentle movement. For the first two weeks exercises are done without provoking discomfort.

Different surgical procedures have different rehab pathways and this will be explained and updated at postop visits.

After discharge from hospital we will review you at 2 weeks and then at 3 months on average.

If you have any concerns with your shoulder after surgery contact the office.