Also called: Postoperative care · Recovery from surgery
Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.
About After Surgery
After any operation, you'll have some side effects. There is usually some pain with surgery. There may also be swelling and soreness around the area that the surgeon cut. Your surgeon can tell you which side effects to expect.
There can also be complications. These are unplanned events linked to the operation. Some complications are infection, too much bleeding, reaction to anesthesia, or accidental injury. Some people have a greater risk of complications because of other medical conditions.
Your surgeon can tell you how you might feel and what you will be able to do - or not do - the first few days, weeks, or months after surgery. Some other questions to ask are:
- How long you will be in the hospital
- What kind of supplies, equipment, and help you might need when you go home
- When you can go back to work
- When it is ok to start exercising again
- Are there any other restrictions in your activities
Following your surgeon's advice can help you recover as soon as possible.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
It sits within Surgery and Rehabilitation.
When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.
Research on After Surgery
27,427 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.
What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.
Research currently under way
- Comparison of Postoperative Analgesic Efficacy of Two Different Blocks in Modified Radical Mastectomy SurgerySultan Abdulhamid Han Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey
- Suzetrigine in Total Hip ArthroplastyHospital for Special Surgery, New York
- Immunotherapy After Surgery for People Who Have No Remaining Cancer Cells After Standard Treatment for Early-Stage Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, INSIGHT TrialNational Cancer Institute (NCI)
- Yiwu Cold Knife Technique Versus Electrocision for Multiple Endometrial PolypsThe Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine
- GORE® ENFORM Biomaterial Product StudyW.L.Gore & Associates
- The Use of a Comfort Tote to Improve Recovery in Pediatric and Adolescent Patients After SurgeryColumbia University
Research already completed
- Cyclophosphamide, Paclitaxel, and Trastuzumab in Treating Stage I-II HER2/Neu Positive Breast Cancer After SurgeryUniversity of Nebraska
- Tissue Adhesive vs Silk Sutures After Mandibular Third Molar ExtractionUniversity of Turin, Italy
- Low vs Medium Pressure PneumoperitoneumUniversity Children's Hospital, Zurich
- Pectoral Nerve Blocks (PECs) for Cardiovascular Implantable Electronic Device PlacementBeth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
- Propofol-sevoflurane Induction for Pediatric Nasotracheal Intubation.Bezmialem Vakif University
- An Investigational Immuno-therapy Study of Nivolumab, Compared to Placebo, in Patients With Bladder or Upper Urinary Tract Cancer, Following Surgery to Remove the CancerBristol-Myers Squibb
Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.
Where to read more
Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.
Learn More
- Closed suction drain with bulbMedical Encyclopedia
- Getting out of bed after surgeryMedical Encyclopedia
- Hemovac drainMedical Encyclopedia
- Incision Care After SurgeryAmerican Academy of Family Physicians
- Keloids (Raised Scars)American Academy of Family Physicians
- Pain Management After SurgeryAmerican Academy of Family Physicians
- Pain Medicines After SurgeryMayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
- SurgeryMerck & Co., Inc.
- Surgical Site Infection BasicsCenters for Disease Control and Prevention
- Surgical wound care - openMedical Encyclopedia
- Taking Care of Myself: A Guide for When I Leave the HospitalAgency for Healthcare Research and Quality
- The day of surgery for your childMedical Encyclopedia
- The day of your surgery - adultMedical Encyclopedia
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Postoperative CareNational Institutes of Health
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Postoperative ComplicationsNational Institutes of Health
Medical subject headings
Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Postoperative Complications, Postoperative Care. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.
This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for After Surgery, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.