Contents:
- Medical Video: Walking After Hip Replacement
- Is fatigue after surgery normal?
- What causes fatigue after surgery?
- 1. Effects of drugs
- 2. Anemia and blood loss
- 3. Lack of sleep
- 4. Nutritional deficiencies, including important minerals
- 5. Effect of drugs
- When is the body weak said to be abnormal after surgery?
Medical Video: Walking After Hip Replacement
Fatigue and weakness are one of the symptoms that often occur after surgery. Even if the surgery includes a small operation, after surgery you can still feel tired. So, is the body weak after surgery is normal? Check out the review below.
Is fatigue after surgery normal?
Fatigue is a normal condition after surgery, how come. Usually, the feeling of fatigue diminishes as the recovery process progresses.
Therefore, after the operation is complete, the recovery process is needed before returning to activities. Some things to do include getting enough sleep, not moving a lot, nutritious food intake must be fulfilled, and taking medication regularly to help the body recover faster. If not, your condition can drop dramatically and there are new problems.
What causes fatigue after surgery?
There are several causes that can cause postoperative fatigue, namely:
1. Effects of drugs
Drugs used when operating to give an unconscious effect or anesthesia basically have the effect of making the body feel weak. However, the age factor and the healthier initial health conditions before surgery will determine this effect too.
The younger and more healthy a person the effects of these drugs will fade much faster than older and less healthy people.
2. Anemia and blood loss
Anemia is a condition of lack of healthy red blood cells. During surgery, the body experiences bleeding related to the procedure performed. As a result, this bleeding decreases the number of red blood cells in the body's circulation, aka anemia.
If you have a history of anemia before surgery, you can also experience anemia after surgery. In addition, blood loss during surgery also allows a person to experience anemia after surgery. The lower the number of red blood cells, the greater the feeling of fatigue experienced.
So, do not be surprised if after the surgery you feel weaker than usual. The feeling of weakness due to the loss of red blood cells can also occur more severely in people who are initially anemic. The body will feel weaker.
3. Lack of sleep
The condition of the body before surgery can also determine the effect of a very weak body after surgery. Before the operation, some people were anxious to live it. This anxiety makes it difficult for some people to sleep before surgery, especially just before the surgery date.
Sleep deprivation triggers sleepiness or fatigue when the person regains consciousness after surgery. Even though the patient is given an injection of anesthesia to sleep, it cannot pay off sleep deprivation that previously occurred.
Therefore, after you are fully aware of the surgery, the body calls for a lack of sleep with fatigue or drowsiness.
4. Nutritional deficiencies, including important minerals
Before surgery, patients are usually advised to fast to prevent problems that can occur related to the gastrointestinal tract during the surgical process. Even fasting times are often extended for a few moments after surgery.
As a result, people who have undergone surgery will lose their intake from what they usually get. Minerals or electrolytes in the body are increasingly depleted.
Although fluid is still given during surgery through infusion, not all minerals that the body needs are contained in it. The loss of some nutrients that should be enough can trigger drowsiness, weakening muscles, irregular heartbeat, and feeling weak in general.
So, after surgery is very necessary to re-fulfill all the needs of the body.
5. Effect of drugs
During or after surgery, a number of drugs are usually given to patients to regulate blood pressure or regulate other conditions during surgery. Some drugs used during preparation for surgery until after this operation have side effects of weakness.
For example benzodiazepine (loraezpam) is commonly used to reduce muscle spasms and insomnia. As a result, patients can get sleepy and feel tired so they want to sleep.
In many people, antibiotics such as cephalexin (Keflex) and sulfamethoxazole (Bactrim) can cause the body to become limp as well.
When is the body weak said to be abnormal after surgery?
If someone who runs out of weakness doesn't get lost or even gets weaker from day to day during recovery, this will only include fatigue to watch out for. The body should be more energetic during the recovery process, because the body has begun to get the opportunity to rest and better nutrition.
Increased feeling of weakness during the recovery process must be reported immediately to the surgeon and nurse. Because, there could be a wrong procedure during recovery so that the body does not get enough energy. Or there could be other problems in the body postoperatively.
