SAN ANTONIO – The days of a two-weeks-long bed-rest recovery from hysterectomies, along with heavy pain medications and long, deep incisions, have become a thing of the past.
Now, the use of robotics and long-lasting pain medications given before surgery is all but eliminating the risk of narcotics addiction in post-surgery patients.
Regina Tolleson, of Maxwell, Texas, is one of the patients benefiting from the new procedures. She had a hysterectomy Wednesday but has been walking the block and enjoying a clear head ever since. No heavy drugs or bed rest for her.
"On Friday, I took a walk, maybe four or five houses. Then yesterday I took a block walk," she said.
It's a remarkable recovery but not unusual in Dr. Susan Crockett's Ob-Gyn office, in the Resolute Hospital of New Braunfels. She has begun using new medications that eliminate the need for narcotics after surgery.
"A year and a half ago, I discovered long-acting pain medicine that we inject and it lasts for three days after surgery. It's allowed us to do surgery with less pain, but I also use much less narcotic after surgery," Crockett said.
The protocols she uses are similar to those at the Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic and others who are trying to reduce pain, but also the multiple side effects brought on by opiate use.
"Typically they use a couple Tylenol (acetaminophen), three, after their surgery. The main pain medicine is Motrin (ibuprofen), which allows them to get up and walk around. They can drive sooner, they're not constipated, they're not straining. They just feel better faster," Crockett said.
Then there's the surgery itself that uses smaller incisions.
"We have really perfected using small-incision surgery, which includes laparoscopy surgery but also robotics. I prefer robotic surgery because the incisions hurt less and you can do much more detailed, finer work with it," Crockett said.
Other doctors are also changing to smaller-incision methods and one day see hysterectomies leaving a single scar hidden in the belly button.