Post-Surgery Discharge 

Postsurgical discharge and recovery

Reid Health provides everyone having surgery with a thorough post-discharge plan to follow as they return home from the hospital. Your post-discharge plan plays an important role in your surgical recovery.  

Whether you are referred to the Reid Health Perioperative Care or you work with your team to prepare for surgery, you’ll receive a customized post-discharge program well before your procedure. This will help you experience a successful recovery after surgery.  

A successful recovery after surgery

Everyone’s surgery has a different goal. Your surgical or perioperative team will work together to make sure your recovery is as successful as possible and will help you regain your presurgical level of health.

The main priorities of a post-discharge plan include:

• Avoiding complications, such as blood clots and deep vein thrombosis
• Avoiding unnecessary visits to the emergency room
• Managing side effects
• Preventing pneumonia, which can develop as your body recovers from surgery

The elements of your post-discharge plan depend on the type of surgery you have, but it’ll likely include some or all the programs discussed below.

When to call for help

Although it’s unlikely you’ll have complications after surgery, you should always be aware of signs that indicate you need medical attention. Call your surgeon’s office if you experience:

• Extreme pain that isn’t controlled by your medication
• Inability to keep fluids down
• Inability to urinate
• Ongoing nausea or vomiting
• Significant bleeding  
• Symptoms of an infection, including fever, foul-smelling drainage, or redness, swelling, or warmth that increases around your incision site
• Your incision opens or your stitches loosen

You should call 911 if you have:

• Allergic reaction symptoms, such as hives or swelling
• Breathing difficulty
• Loss of consciousness
• Severe chest pain that comes on suddenly
• Uncontrollable heavy bleeding  

Pain management

As you’re recovering from orthopedic or spine surgery, or another condition that causes ongoing pain, remember our Pain Management team has one goal — to keep you as comfortable and pain-free as possible. Our interventional treatment options help to manage both acute and chronic pain, whether you’re bouncing back from orthopedic surgery or a stroke.

Your personalized post-discharge plan might use any of the following pain medications or modalities:

• Electromyography
• Epidural injections
• Genicular nerve block/radiofrequency ablation  
• Joint and bursa injections
• Lumbar sympathetic blocks
• Medial branch blocks
• Musculoskeletal ultrasound
• Peripheral nerve blocks
• Radiofrequency ablations
• Trigger point injections

Call us at (765) 935-8866 for more information about pain management.  

Signs you need pain management

If you receive a nerve block, your pain will return, usually within 24 hours. It might be sudden and severe, or it can come back gradually. You’ll want to begin taking oral pain medication before your nerve block wears off completely. In most cases, postsurgical pain can be managed with prescription and over-the-counter medications.

If your pain isn’t getting better and begins interfering with your quality of life, you might need pain management. Other signs you might need pain management include pain that:

• Causes mood changes like depression or anxiety
• Gets worse or comes back after treatment
• Interferes with your ability to sleep
• Spreads to other areas in your body

Postsurgical rehabilitation

Our rehabilitation services take place at our innovative outpatient center, the largest freestanding outpatient rehabilitation facility in East Central Indiana and West Central Ohio. Your post-discharge plan will build upon the care you received in our Acute Rehabilitation Unit while still hospitalized. Our therapies and services include:

• Aquatic therapy
• Cancer rehabilitation
• Functional capacity evaluations
• Medical fitness
• Neuro-rehabilitation
• Occupational therapy
• Pediatric rehabilitation and early intervention
• Pelvic floor physical therapy
• Physical therapy
• Reid Rock Steady Boxing for Parkinson’s
• Speech pathology and therapy
• Sports medicine

Palliative care

The medical sub-specialty of palliative care aims to improve your quality of life by providing symptom relief and helping to alleviate the stress of serious illness. Often used alongside pain management and rehabilitation services, palliative care can include:

• Acupuncture
• Counseling and other types of emotional support
• Deep breaths and breathing techniques
• Massage therapy
• Nutritional guidance
• Spiritual support