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Each operation is associated with risk. It reduces the body’s resistance, threatens with complications, is associated with pain. But if you cannot help in other ways, you have to agree. In this case, you need to know what the surgeon will do with your body.
We “earn” some operations for ourselves, without taking care of our own health for years. The reasons for the others are still unknown. It happens that we ourselves insist on removing the gallbladder, because then we can eat without any restrictions, but when it comes to the need for heart surgery, we panic. Let’s dwell on 10 operations most often prescribed for women.
Removal of thyroid nodules
The thyroid gland resembles a butterfly clinging to the larynx. If your doctor finds lumps in your thyroid gland, don’t resist surgery, even if you don’t feel unwell. Many women postpone surgery for years. We do not recommend doing this. The knots are not so harmless. They can produce hormones that cause an overactive thyroid gland. And sometimes they turn into malignant formations. During the operation, the surgeon removes either part or all of the thyroid gland.
Duration of surgery: from 40 minutes to 1,5 hours.
Hospital stay: If everything goes well, you can be discharged in 4-7 days.
Convalescence period: over ten days. There is hoarseness, hoarseness, loss of voice. All this passes without a trace. A scar on the neck with a skilled surgeon is almost invisible after a couple of weeks. But hormones, especially if all the gland has been removed, will have to be taken for the rest of your life.
The appendix (appendix)
A small branch, like a tail, where the small intestine merges into the large intestine, called the cecum, serves as a filter for bacteria. Poorly digested food debris, parasites, and feces are hardly squeezed into it. If all this ballast cannot be released, inflammation of the appendix begins. Without urgent surgical intervention, it can burst and in a short time provoke inflammation of the peritoneum (peritonitis). And this is already a life-threatening situation. Acute pain in the right side of the abdomen, nausea – a signal that you need to call an ambulance. The operation to remove the appendix is simple, it can be performed both by the traditional method and by the laparoscopic method, when instruments are inserted into the cavity through tiny holes.
Duration of the operation: several tens of minutes.
Hospital stay: 3-7 days.
Convalescence period: After a week, some are dancing rock and roll.
Removal of the gallbladder
Gallbladder disease is caused by an unhealthy diet with excess fatty, fried or sweet foods, as well as a deficiency of vitamins C, B, E. Stressful situations, a sedentary lifestyle, various medications, diets for weight loss – all this together leads to the occurrence of cholesterol stones and calcium. The bubble, designed to thicken bile (thicker digests better), fails. Bloating, hiccups, and increasing pains signal that you are facing a scalpel. The traditional surgeon makes a 15 cm incision under the sternum. Patients prefer laparoscopy. No wonder: in this case, three small scars remain on the stomach, which after 2 months are almost invisible.
Duration of surgery: 1-2 hours depending on the method.
Hospital stay: with laparoscopy – three days. With traditional surgery – over a week.
Recovery period: after a successful operation with the laparoscopic method, after a couple of days, the patient does not feel ailments, and with the traditional one, when the abdominal cavity is opened, the pain lasts over ten days. Those who have had the bladder removed along with the stones should adhere to a diet of easily digestible food for the rest of their lives.
Cesarean section
Childbirth with a scalpel is mandatory when a woman cannot push (myopia, high blood pressure, heart disease), or her pelvis is too narrow, or she needs to act urgently. Immediately after the operation, the patient’s legs are lifted so that a blood clot does not form. With the blood, the clot can be transported to the lungs, causing fatal plug and death. Therefore, immediately after awakening from anesthesia, the patient is forced to move her feet. The day after the operation, she should get out of bed.
Duration of surgery: The newborn should be removed in a few minutes.
Stay in the hospital: if there are no complications, then about a week.
Recovery period: often after a couple of days, women are nursing their child on their own, but it happens that they do not feel well for another couple of weeks.
Ectopic pregnancy
It happens when an excessively fast sperm meets an egg not in the uterus, as nature dictates, but earlier, in the ovary or in the oviduct; this is favored by inflammation in the latter and abortion. If you are lucky, the ectopic pregnancy will start to develop slowly and there will be time to detect it using ultrasound and remove it using laparoscopic surgery. But it happens that a woman loses consciousness and she starts bleeding, because the oviduct has burst with an ectopic pregnancy. From now on, every minute counts! When the surgeon opens the abdominal cavity, it turns out that it is all filled with blood. Pregnancy should be looked for blindly, but the source of bleeding should be identified and eliminated as soon as possible. Blood transfusion is required. In young women, only a portion of the oviduct is removed to give them a chance to become pregnant. But then from the very first week they should be under the vigilant supervision of a gynecologist!
Duration of surgery: 30 minutes.
Hospital stay: about a week.
Convalescence period: when the wound heals, you can live a normal life.
Myomas
In every fifth woman aged 35-45 years, gynecologists find this benign neoplasm in the uterus. In two percent of patients, it degenerates into a malignant one. They usually disappear after menopause. Their appearance is favored by a violation of hormonal balance, an excess of estrogens plying in the body. An increase in fibroids can be counteracted with progesterone, preferably inside the vagina. Dangerous are those fibroids that provoke profuse, prolonged periods and pain. Some women do not pay attention to this and come to the doctor only in case of bleeding or when the fibroid grows so much that an increase in the abdomen is noticeable – like during pregnancy. In young women, tumors are scraped out, but in half of the patients they reappear. Most often, the operation consists in the complete removal of the uterus (only the appendages remain).
Operation time: 1-1,5 hours.
Hospital stay: about a week.
Healing period: From the moment the wound heals, women can live without fear of bleeding and pain, but must be under the constant care of a doctor.
Ovarian tumors
They can grow to the size of a child’s head. Small, benign ones are well treated with medicines. The larger ones threaten to rupture. Depending on the results of histology, the surgeon decides how radical the operation should be. If the tumor is non-cancerous, then it is removed with a part of the ovary. Thanks to this, a woman will be able to have a child in the future.
Duration of surgery: about an hour.
Hospital stay: about a week. For malignant tumors, further treatment is necessary: chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
Convalescence period: as with fibroids.
Hemorrhoids
The most common disease of the anus. Usually they talk about her in a whisper. It often appears during pregnancy, when the developing fetus takes up more and more space in the abdomen and presses on the veins. Hemorrhoids are promoted by a sedentary lifestyle, lack of gymnastics, and, above all, chronic constipation. Bumps signal their presence by the appearance of blood in the stool. If hemorrhoids are not treated, and a special diet for hemorrhoids is not followed, then pain increases and the patient uses the toilet less and less, which contributes to the growth of cones. The operation consists in the seizure of the hemorrhoid with surgical forceps and tying in such a way that the knot dies off within a week. This does not eliminate the main cause of varicose veins of the rectum, and postoperative scars often block blood circulation. After a while, the operation has to be repeated, and each time it becomes more complicated, and the healing process is delayed.
Duration of surgery: 1-2 hours.
Hospital stay: week – ten days.
Convalescence period: General weakness can last for several weeks.
Varicose veins in the legs
Each of us knows how it looks. But how sore the legs affected by this disease are difficult to describe! When varicose veins rupture, bleeding occurs. In 20% of women, the disease begins during pregnancy. But it also happens hereditary. It is a disease of dentists, saleswomen, hairdressers and all women who work standing up. The operation requires precision. The surgeon quickly and vigorously pulls out the main vein from the lateral branches. Sometimes the vein has a rather tortuous length, it has to be removed in parts. The method of cryotherapy (“freezing”) is often used, which is more gentle for patients. The leg after surgery is purple from hemorrhages. After a few years, varicose veins can develop in other veins.
Duration of surgery: sometimes several hours.
Hospital stay: individually, but usually 3-5 days.
The period of recovery: some come out on their own, albeit carefully bandaged, legs after two days. Others have difficulty walking for several weeks and complain of severe pain.
Painful deformity of the big toe
The blame falls on the designers who invented narrow noses and high heels. Prolonged pressure causes a curvature of the big toe and the appearance of a bony outgrowth at its base. It looks like a glued-in half of a walnut. The surgeon splits off this excess piece by piece. Sometimes he has to fix the joint and secure it with steel knitting needles. After the operation, the feet are filled with plaster for a couple of weeks. After removing the cast, the patient cannot walk normally right away.
Duration of surgery: on average 40 minutes, but sometimes longer.
Hospital stay: several days.
Recovery period: rehabilitation is delayed, sometimes pains appear when the weather changes. True, now you do not have to buy shoes 2 sizes larger, but you need to make sure that they have instep supports.