Thoracotomy: Your Hospital Recovery

The hospital stay after a thoracotomy varies from patient to patient, but it’s often a week or longer.

Immediately After Surgery

When you first wake up from the anesthesia, you may feel groggy, thirsty, or cold. If the breathing tube given to you during surgery remains in place, you won’t be able to talk. Flexible tubes in your chest drain air, blood, and fluid. Intravenous (IV) lines give you fluid and medications. Monitors record your heartbeat and the amount of oxygen in your blood. A tube may be placed in your bladder to drain your urine. You may spend one or more days in this special monitoring unit before you’re moved to a regular hospital room.

Managing Your Pain

As soon as possible, you’ll begin to move around to improve your muscle strength and blood flow. Your nurse or a physical therapist will help you as you start to sit up and walk. Pain medications help make activity more comfortable. These medications may be given to you by a nurse, or a special pump may allow you to give yourself medication as you need it. If you received an epidural before surgery, it may remain in place for a few days to continue to relieve the pain of your incision.

Respiratory Therapy

Soon after your surgery, a nurse or therapist will teach you exercises to keep your lungs clear, make your breathing muscles stronger, and help prevent complications. The exercises include incentive spirometry, where you put your mouth around a plastic device and inhale as much air as you can. You will also be taught coughing exercises, deep-breathing exercises, and other breathing techniques to perform these regularly on your own.

Range-of-Motion Exercises

While you’re in the hospital, your nurse or a physical therapist may teach you some range-of-motion exercises. These exercises help stretch and strengthen the muscles on the side of surgery to keep your shoulder moving freely. You may also be taught exercises you can continue to do at home while you heal.