Teen Health Home Care

After a Laparoscopy

Rest and relax following surgery.
What to expect | Plan to | When to call | Contact us

After a laparoscopy, you should expect:

  1. Mild cramping, like a menstrual period
  2. Light bleeding or spotting for up to a week
  3. Soreness / pain around the incision(s) ("like an elephant stepped on your belly")
  4. Feeling tired
  5. Sometimes feeling sick (nausea) from the medicines you had while you were asleep
  6. Soreness / pain in shoulder, chest, or breast (due to air under the diaphragm)

Back to top

Plan to:

  1. Rest on the day of surgery, and then over the next 2 days, slowly increase your activities until you feel normal
  2. Take ibuprofen (Advil, Nuprin) 600 mg. Every 4-6 hours around the clock (while awake) for 3-5 days to treat cramping
  3. Take stronger pain medicine (Tylenol with codeine) as needed in addition to ibuprofen for pain around the incision
  4. Use a pad, not a tampon for any bleeding
  5. Keep the incision dry for 24 hours (no water on incision); you may shower after that
  6. Leave the "plastic wrap" on the incision for 2-3 days
  7. After removing the "plastic wrap", use hydrogen peroxide to clean off any dried blood
  8. Go back to work or school in 3 days
  9. Begin taking or keep taking any medicine that was prescribed before the surgery or after the surgery (including hormones or birth control pills)
  10. Call the clinic (636-4681) to make a follow-up appointment. You should tell the scheduler that this is a "post-op" visit. Usually this visit will be within 1-3 weeks.

DO NOT plan to eat a full meal until at least 6 hours after surgery. Start with sips of clear liquids (tea, apple juice, water). If you feel OK, you can eat a little more. Don't eat spicy foods (for example, pizza or Skyline chili) for the first meal. DO NOT put anything in your vagina (NO tampons, NO douching, NO SEX) until after you have had your checkup.

Back to top

Call 636-4681 if you have:

  1. Bleeding heavier than a menstrual period
  2. Cramping / pain that is not relieved by ibuprofen
  3. Severe vomiting
  4. Fever more than 101 degrees
  5. Lots of redness or drainage from the incision

Back to top

Contact us

For additional information on this or any Health Topic, please call the Family Resource Center, 513-636-7606, or your pediatrician.

Back to top

Written 10/06