Surgical Care Group

Patient Instructions for Aortic Aneurysms

The doctor will check your medical history and order tests before surgery. You may need blood work, a chest x-ray, an ECG, and/or a CT scan.
You will need to visit the hospital a few days prior to surgery to ensure that all the tests are done and to complete paperwork.
The doctor will check your carotid arteries for blockages, and the circulation to your legs. If any problems are detected, you may need to have an arteriogram.

Do not eat anything for eight hours prior to surgery, which usually means nothing after midnight the day before.
Do not take insulin or other medications to lower your blood sugar.
Do not take blood thinning medication (such as Coumadin) for at least 5 days prior to surgery, and be sure to ask us about this medication if your are taking it.
Take all other medicines you are currently on.
Shower and shave as usual.

You will stay in the recovery room for two to three hours after surgery and then be taken to the ICU (Intensive Care Unit).
If you have an abdominal incision, you may have a thin plastic tube in your nose (called an N-G tube). It will be removed as soon as your bowels start working.
You will have a tube (catheter) draining your bladder.
Pain will be controlled with medicine if necessary. Frequently pain is controlled with an epidural catheter which is a small tube inserted in the back near the spinal cord. This often gives complete pain relief without narcotics, resulting in the patient being less groggy and the bowels working earlier. Other options include medicine given to you by a nurse, or use of a PCA (Patient-Controlled Analgesia). The PCA allows a patient to administer a preset amount of narcotic pain medicine through the intravenous fluid tube at controlled intervals.
You will also be given an incentive spirometer. Breathing into this device as you are instructed will help expand your lungs and reduce the risk of developing pneumonia.
The hospital stay for this type of surgery is usually 5 to 10 days. You will need someone to drive you home when you are discharged.

Walk as you feel able. You may go up and down stairs.
You should not let your legs hang down for too long as that will cause more swelling. You should put your feet up periodically, especially if you have been standing for a long time. You should not cross your legs or sit for long periods. These positions tend to reduce the flow of blood through the arteries and encourage clot formation.
Diet should be continued as before the surgery. Be careful that you do not become constipated. Include enough roughage and liquids. You may need a mild laxative such as milk of magnesia.
Do not lift more than ten pounds for six weeks after the operation.
You may resume sexual activity whenever you choose.
You should not drive until you are pain free and you are confident that you can handle a car under all driving conditions. Your recovery depends on your general condition before your surgery, the extent of your operation, and what medicines you are on. It is best to start out with short trips. There is a tendency to become easily fatigued for a month after surgery and you should bear this in mind.
You should see us in the office about a week after you are home from the hospital.

Keep dry dressings on the incision if it is still draining. After that you may leave the incision open to the air. If you have a tendency to bump yourself or the incision rubs on your clothing, you may keep it covered.
There may be narrow strips of tape across the incision beneath the dressing. It’s all right if they get wet; they will be removed in the doctor’s office.
You may shower over the incision when it is no longer draining, with the surgical dressings either on or off. After you dry yourself, replace any dressings with clean, dry ones.

You should continue on the medications you were on prior to surgery. You will also be given narcotic pain pills. You should try to wean yourself off them as soon as possible.
The narcotics are also constipating so you should take a mild laxative if you need one.