Hi my name is Lauren Lynch and I’m one of the physician assistants here at Florida plastic surgery group today I’m going to discuss your post-op instructions for the deep flap that’s deep inferior epigastric perforator flap Diep when you wake up from surgery on post-op day one you’re going to wake up with one of two dressings on one you could wake up with a front closing sports bar ilan and an abdominal binder if you wake up with this I want you to wear them both 24/7 even while you’re sleeping treat them both the same the other option you may wake up with is no bran in the event that you wake up without a brawl on we will right no bra across your chest the reason being is the sports bras in the hospital are going to be front closing so the idea being that anyone who may be putting this on you would be able to see our message prior to actually buttoning and zipping you up you will however always wake up with an abdominal binder on and that you will still wear 24/7 even while sleeping on post-op day one in the hospital you’ll get a list of five different goals for the day so post-op day one being the day after surgery your first of all is going to be to drink lots of clear liquids with any surgery it can dehydrate you so we want to make sure you stay well hydrated by doing this we’re going to have you drink a lot of clear liquids after surgery your second goal is going to be to use the restroom now it is not likely that you will have a bowel movement prior to going home so we do not expect you to have a bowel movement in the hospital but we do want to make sure that you are avoiding or urinating while you’re here with us so that is going to be your second goal the first one drinking lots of clear liquids the second one is going to be to make sure you avoid or urinate after surgery the third goal is going to be to eat solid food now after we see you in the morning of the first day after surgery we’ll take a look and a listen to everything if everything looks and sounds great we’ll be able to clear you for a regular diet generally by this time patients have no problems eating food they usually are very hungry the fourth goal is going to be to ambulate this is one of your other two most important goals drinking lots of clear liquids and ambulating the halls are going to be two of the most important of the five goals okay it is very important because the fluid tends to settle so if you’re not moving around fluid is not moving around and therefore it cannot get to the lymphatic ducts and chains in order to clear that fluid out okay so ambulating is going to be very important furthermore every single patient who undergo surgery is at an increased risk of blood clots that’s a blood clot in your leg that can travel to your lung one of the ways we prevent this is by having you walk okay your muscles will actually massage the vessels in order to move these around that way you do not get blood clots following surgery so drinking lots of clear liquids and ambulating are going to be two of the most important of the five goals the last goal is something I’ve recently added on and it’s basically going to be an incentive spirometer which is a breathing machine and the hospital is going to provide this for you after surgery I only added as the fifth goal now just because you are going to be your own best advocate if for any reason you don’t see one of these come to you bedside on the first day after surgery I want you to ask for one also your friends and family should hopefully be aware and present with you when we review these five goals generally we’ll review them with you in pre-op before your surgery however you may not remember these goals because anesthesia furthermore will also tell you them on post-op day one okay so in review the five goals are going to be to eat to drink lots of clear liquids to ambulate to use the restroom and to do this breathing machine then the breathing machine is just going to help you to expand your lungs after surgery now when you are ready to go home the next day you’ll have another set of instructions reviewed with you by the PA now when you go home if you have a front closing sports bra on again that’s option one I want you to wear it 24/7 even when you’re sleeping you can take it off to shower and you can shower the day after you go home option two is no sports bra and you will have no brawl at this time if that is the case I want you to continue to wear no bra or compressive garment until your first visit with us in the office okay however the binder will be the same regardless of which option of dressings you have the binder will be on 24/7 even when you’re sleeping but you can take it off to shower and again you can shower the day after you go home from the hospital now when you do you can reach up to wash your hair but I don’t want the angle of your arm to go up past this so no extreme reaching and no lifting greater than 10 pounds we will also have you kind of walk over at about 30 degree angle to protect your abdominal incision the binder is usually a good reminder to do this a few final reminders with any surgery regardless of what you’re having done make sure you do not smoke cigarettes for at least six to eight weeks following surgery especially during your time of healing the other thing is going to be to look for on one breast or abdominal area any red heat swelling or any discharge that you notice coming from the area please give our office a call immediately the only other thing as well to watch for is going to be any shortness of breath or any pain in one of your extremities if it’s becoming painful swollen red please give us a call at the office immediately.Thank you!
Lauren Lynch, PA-C discusses Post-Op/Discharge instructions after a DIEP Flap Reconstruction Procedure
