Recovery from Surgery

Complications of Surgery on the Body

Complications during and after surgery are more common than appreciated. Everyone is very familiar with the story of a grandmother who lives by herself, takes care of herself independently, falls, breaks a hip, gets a hip operation, and then goes to live at a nursing home because she sustained an injury to her brain during the hip replacement.

When complications arise from surgery they are due to events that occur during surgery and after surgery in the recovery room. During the induction phase of anesthesia when patients are sedated, paralyzed, and put under general anesthesia precipitous drops in blood pressure can occur. This is caused by the anesthetic agents, most of which dilate blood vessels, slow down the heart, and decrease the vigorous squeezing ability of the heart muscle. Some people’s blood pressure never returns to normal during the operation. Alternatively, due to blood loss during surgery people can also experience drops in blood pressure at various points in the operation. Younger patients can often tolerate these drops in blood pressure, but as we age our brains become much more sensitive to drops in blood pressure and these blood pressure drops can injure the brain. 

The anesthetic agents themselves can also cause harm in that most If not all of them are toxic in high enough doses. The breathing tube can also become dislodged during surgery, especially when patients are rolled or turned to a new position on the operating table. Once in the recovery room patients can stop breathing from too much anesthesia. Regardless of the exact cause it is well appreciated that patients can sustain injury to the brain during and after surgery. 

Hyperbaric oxygen treatment for surgical recovery is a substantial and reasonable way to reduce symptoms and heal more quickly. By nature of its beneficial effects for wound healing HBOT accelerates healing of the wounds inflicted during surgery. After undergoing even one treatment, patients have experienced a significant reduction in swelling, bruising, and pain (see the pictures of the middle-aged woman’s facial swelling after an eyebrow lift under “cosmetic/plastic surgery.” Through its effects on reduction of swelling and improvement of the circulation HBOT reduces the chances of infection. For patients who develop wound infections HBOT has been shown to have synergistic effects with the antibiotics (1 + 1 = 3). Patients also experience a brightening or wake-up effect from the after-effects of anesthesia on the brain and body. 

For patients who experience complications from anesthesia or blood pressure drops after a surgery, HBOT may be one of the only if not the only effective treatments for an injured brain. HBOT’s effects here are similar to its effects on stroke and toxic brain injury. Many of the same disease processes underlie the injury to the brain during surgery and anesthesia as in stroke and toxic brain injury.

Benefits of Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment for Surgery Recovery

Wounds need oxygen to be able to heal. One of the main purposes and effects of HBOT is hyperoxygenation, which means that the blood can carry and deliver an increased amount of oxygen to the rest of the body. Hyperbaric oxygen treatment has been used and reimbursed for wound care for decades because of the rapid increase in healing that takes place. HBOT reduces swelling, improves circulation, and stimulates growth of new connective tissue, blood vessels, bone, and skin. HBOT is essentially painless and can speed up recovery time by multiple days or weeks. This means a faster return home, to work, and to normal function. Hyperbaric oxygen treatment for post-surgical recovery has also been known to reduce scarring, which can be life-changing in cases of skin grafts or severe burns. Patients with large incision sites or limb amputation can also benefit from a reduction of scarring and scar tissue. 

Serious and complicated surgeries have lengthy recovery periods that can be characterized by months or even years of hospital stays, aftercare, and hardships during the convalescent period. Patients with underlying conditions that affect healing like heart disease, diabetes, obesity, alcoholism or drug addiction can have even more difficulty after a surgery. People over the age of 70 also can have major difficulties in recovery. HBOT is safe and effective for almost all patients, even those with underlying conditions. This cannot be said for many other forms of treatment. HBOT does not require any physical exertion and the patient is monitored throughout each treatment. Hyperbaric oxygen treatment post-surgery can decrease a person’s recovery time significantly and elevate their postoperative quality of living.