Surgical operations are complex effects on tissues, human organs, performed by doctors for diagnosis, treatment or correction of bodily functions. Depending on the urgent situation, they are: emergency (in case of urgent need in the name of saving the patient’s life), immediate (requiring intervention within 48 hours), planned. Naturally: radical, palliative, symptomatic.
The purpose of the first two types of surgical intervention is the complete or partial elimination of the cause of the pathological process, and the third is to alleviate the patient's condition.
Can I drink alcohol 10 days after surgery? Should I refrain from drinking alcohol before surgery? How does alcohol affect anesthesia? Let us consider in more detail.
Dangers of alcohol in the postoperative period
Ethyl alcohol weakens the human immune system, which negatively affects the effectiveness of surgeon interventions. In addition, most surgeries, including laparoscopy, are performed under anesthesia, which, in combination with alcoholic beverages, increases the load on the heart and blood vessels, which can lead to death.
Often, to prevent the occurrence of inflammation and infection in tissues injured by scalpels, patients are prescribed (for prophylactic purposes) antibiotic therapy, which excludes the possibility of drinking alcohol. Beer is also included in the list of prohibited drinks, as it causes fermentation, which slows down the healing of wounds and tissues.
After surgical intervention, the immune status decreases, which can trigger exacerbation of chronic disease, resulting in the appearance of latent pathology.
Alcohol after surgery disrupts blood clotting, resulting in an increased risk of uncontrolled internal bleeding that threatens the patient’s life.
Remember, no matter how much alcohol a patient consumes after anesthesia, the depressive process of the central nervous system is constantly triggered, which can lead to confusion, respiratory failure, and hallucinations.
Alcohol thins the walls of blood vessels, destroys liver cells, irritates the mucous membranes of the gastrointestinal tract, burdens the heart.
How much can you drink?
The minimum period of limiting the use of ethyl beverages is 30 days after surgical treatment.
Abstinence from alcohol before surgery
As in the case after surgical treatment, and before that, alcohol is prohibited. A characteristic feature of the preoperative period is the required laboratory diagnostic pathways, including the study of the patient’s urine, ECG, and blood. In the case of drinking ethyl cocktails, the results become unreliable, which distorts the true clinical picture, can lead to fatal errors in diagnosis and results of surgical interventions.
In addition, serious surgery on the myocardium, veins is performed exclusively under anesthesia. If a patient has seriously abused alcohol a few days before the introduction of anesthesia, the effects of the drug may become unpredictable. For example, one standard anesthetic dose is not enough, as a result, one person can recover before the end of the operation, while another, by contrast, gets too much, occurs in excess, which leads to inhibition of the respiratory or cardiovascular system.
To avoid the development of the above complications, you should refrain from drinking alcohol for at least a week before surgical treatment.
Alcohol and anesthesia
Anesthesia is the loss of tissue sensitivity for a short period of time under the influence of an anesthetic agent. Such drugs block the transmission of nerve impulses, which causes signals not to reach the brain, which means that the body’s response to irritation in the form of pain is also absent.
Local anesthesia lasted another 2. 5 hours after surgery. However, when drinking alcohol, the anesthetic effect of the drug disappears immediately, an acute pain attack develops, which can not be suppressed even with painkillers.
The situation is much more complicated with general anesthesia used for abdominal surgery, when the body needs to be protected from shock and pain.
After recovery from anesthesia, the following complications may occur:
- Headache;
- nausea;
- weakness or tension in the muscles;
- discomfort in the throat;
- turbidity in consciousness;
- decrease in blood pressure;
- hallucinogenic delusions.
Why can't you drink alcohol after anesthesia?
Such a combination can lead to the occurrence of critical conditions such as anaphylactic shock, nervous disorders. The duration of withdrawal of anesthetic drugs depends on the type of drug, its dose and the health of the patient. As a rule, the main part leaves the body within a day after surgery, and the rest in 2-3 days.
Recovery after surgical procedures
Any surgical intervention leads to a weakness of the body’s protective function. The recovery period for people who abuse alcohol in daily life will be more difficult than for patients who adhere to a healthy lifestyle, because the healing of "alcoholic" tissues takes longer.
Postoperative recommendations:
- After stomach surgery, you should not eat for the first 2-3 days. You can get up in a day, gradually increase the load, walk more. This will speed up the body's return to a normal environment. Alcohol should not be consumed for another month.
- After coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG), eliminate bad habits, regularly measure blood pressure, count pulse, determine the presence of edema, do not put a strain on the heart (do not go to the sauna, do not plan long walks, stop doing vigorous physical exercise). CABG does not cure people with coronary heart disease, it only serves as symptomatic therapy. Bypass patients are required to follow a lifelong diet that limits the intake of salt, animal fats, alcohol and carbohydrates. At the same time, the emphasis in nutrition is on protein, plant foods.
- After surgery on the shoulder joint, hip joint, which involves complete replacement of diseased cartilage and bone with artificial material, the patient is given an intravenous solution, antibiotics to maintain water-salt balance, and painkillers. To avoid negative reactions of the body, alcoholic beverages are prohibited. After endoprosthetics, physiotherapy exercises were prescribed, which excluded excessive loads of the operated legs and arms.
- After gallbladder removal, alcohol is forbidden to drink for the rest of your life.
- After eye surgery, cataract removal, alcohol should not be drunk for at least 3 months. During the recovery period, patients are given non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that are incompatible with alcohol.
- After spinal surgery, patients are given painkillers, NSAIDs, which, when interacting with ethanol, increase the risk of developing gastrointestinal bleeding and ulcers. In addition, alcohol reduces the effect of drugs that increase microcirculation, burdening the liver, leading to disruption of metabolic processes in the body, which is fraught with dystrophic, degenerative changes in the intervertebral disc.
After varicocele surgery, a man should lie down for the first day. On the second day, you can start moving. Walking improves blood flow and prevents constipation. To relieve pain, cold compresses are applied to the sore spot for 15 minutes.
Production
Surgical intervention on any tissues and organs always leads to the appearance of postoperative edema. Alcoholic beverages are prohibited during this period. The fact is that alcohol speeds up blood circulation, which can increase swelling, worsening the condition of fresh stitches. In addition, ethyl alcohol gives a negative reaction with anesthetics, analgesics, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. As a result, the body may behave in unusual ways.
The period of abstinence from drinking alcohol before surgery is at least 10 days and after - from 1 to 6 months. At the same time, in some cases (when the gallbladder is removed), a lifetime ban is imposed on alcohol consumption.