LAVH: Epidermal/Epideral

Has anyone tried surgery with an Epidermal/Epideral. Does it make the recovery easier?

Are you talking about having an epidural for post op pain control, or for the anesthesia for the surgery? If it's for pain control, read on!
I had a spinal injection of long acting morphine. It was placed in the operating room, right before they put me to sleep.
It was a GOD SEND. My day of surgery pain was only abut 1-2 on the 0-10, 10=worst scale . The long acting morphine wore off gradually over abut 30 hours. Because of that my post operative pain came on gradually, not WHAM the instant you wake up you're in pain.
I would recommend this option to everyone having a hysterectomy unless you have some condition that makes getting a spinal impossible.
To clarify, the spinal was only for pain control. I had general anesthesia with the breathing tube and gases, not an epidural like a childbirth anesthesia.
I would not chose to have a hysterectomy with epidural anesthesia. There are too many variables in how well it works. Plus, I had the daVinci assisted vaginal hysterectomy. During surgery, the table is moved so you're nearly standing on your head so your bowel moves out of the way for the surgeon. I don't think you can have epidural anesthesia and do that. Even if you could, I would NOT have wanted that.
Hope this helps!

You can not have an epidural for anesthesia with any lap procedure because of the air that is pumped into your abdomen. You must be intubated for that time in order to be able to breathe.

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Originally Posted by getpaws Has anyone tried surgery with an Epidermal/Epideral. Does it make the recovery easier?

I just had my surgery a few days ago and they did give me an epiderul along with the regular anesthetics and that first night I did not have any pain and well into the next day so it does help for in the beginning. Good luck

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Originally Posted by getpaws Has anyone tried surgery with an Epidermal/Epideral. Does it make the recovery easier?

I had a TAH/BSO. An epidural catheter was inserted just before the team and I headed into the OR. It was used during surgery, supplemented with something to knock me out, and then kept in for three days after surgery to provide me with dilaudid (hydromorphone) for pain management.

I was a bit dubious when the anesthesiologist told me we were going with an epidural, as I'd been expecting general anesthesia instead, but he said an epidural would be better for pain management and ****, he was right!

I had neither pain from the surgery nor side effects from the narcotic (except for a very dry mouth the next day - I just drank lots and lots of water). Because the epidural delivers the narcotic directly to the spine, lower doses can be used than with intravenous (IV) delivery, so there are fewer side effects. And since you're on lower doses to start with, it's easier to wean you off. I went home from the hospital three days after surgery with instructions to take ibuprofen or acetaminophen as necessary, no narcotics.

Also, because I didn't have general anesthesia, I was spared having a tube put down my throat. I woke up with a little nasal clip delivering extra oxygen, but that was all. No sore throat.

The other thing I woke up with was a Foley (urinary) catheter. If you have an epidural, you will also need a Foley. This may sound unpleasant, but in fact it was quite convenient for the day of and the first day after surgery, when getting out of bed was still a long, slow process.

The epidural came out at 8 AM on Day 3, the Foley came out four hours later, and I was released that afternoon.

I know everyone is different but I had a LAVH on June 11 and the IV pain meds were more than enough to keep me comfortable. Once I was finally good and awake and the nurse would ask me to rate my pain it was never more than a 2 out of 10 and the time it was a two I just needed to empty my bladder. I took Percocet for two days at home and was fine after that.

Again, everyone is different, but that was my experience. Good luck to you and I pray you have an easy surgery and quick recovery!

Thank-you, just talk to doctor and he is ordering a spinal for the pain.