Recovering from bowel cancer surgery

It is normal to have some pain or discomfort for a few days after surgery. This can be controlled with painkillers. Immediately after your operation you may have painkillers in the following ways:

• By mouth (orally).
• As an injection.
• Through an epidural. This is a small, thin tube in your back that goes into the space around your spinal cord. It gives you continuous pain relief.
• Through a patient-controlled analgesia pump (PCA pump). The pump is attached to a fine tube (cannula) in a vein in your arm. You control the pump using a handset that you press when you need more of the painkiller.
• Through a thin tube called a rectus catheter that your surgeon places in your tummy. You may have this kind of catheter if you have the cut downwards from your belly button to your tummy.
• A combination of some of the above.

It is important to tell your doctor or nurse if the pain is not controlled. They can change your painkillers.

Painkillers sometimes slow down your bowel function (cause constipation). If your bowels are not moving, tell your nurses. They can give you medicines to help.

Before you can go home, your pain needs to be controlled by tablets. You will be given a prescription for painkillers you can take at home as needed.

You may be given fluids into a vein in your hand or arm. This is called a drip or intravenous infusion. Your nurse usually takes this out when you are able to eat and drink normally.

During bowel cancer surgery, you usually have a tube put in to drain urine (pee) from your bladder. This is called a catheter. A nurse will take this out when you are able to eat and drink normally and can walk to the toilet.

You may have a nasogastric tube. This is a tube that goes up the nose and down into the stomach. A nurse uses this to remove fluid from the stomach. Once the bowel starts working again, the nurse will take the tube out.

You may have a tube in your tummy, close to the wound. This drains fluid into a small drainage bag or bottle. A nurse will usually remove the drain after a few days. 

Wounds may be closed with stitches, clips or staples. A nurse at your GP surgery usually removes these after you go home. Sometimes a district nurse can come to your home to remove them. Some surgeons use dissolving stitches that do not need to be removed.

You may be given antibiotics to help prevent wound infection. It is important to tell your nurse or doctor straight away if your wound: 

• becomes hot
• becomes painful
• bleeds
• leaks any fluids.

These can be signs that the wound is infected.

Depending on the type of operation you have had, you will probably be ready to go home 2 to 7 days after surgery.

Before leaving hospital, you will be given an appointment for your post-surgery check-up. At the check-up, your doctor will talk to you about whether you need any further treatment – for example,  chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

If you have stitches, clips or staples in your wound, these are usually taken out 7 to 10 days after the operation. A nurse at your GP surgery can do this. If you cannot leave home, a district nurse can visit you.

Most people have changes in how their bowel works after surgery.  Some people might develop bowel problems after a rectal cancer operation called a lower anterior resection.

It may take several weeks or months before your bowel function settles into a more regular pattern. You may need to make some changes to your diet to help you to manage these changes. Some people may need to take anti-diarrhoea medicines regularly.   

Tell your doctor or nurse if you have bowel changes that are not improving or are difficult to manage.  

We have more information about what you can do to help manage bowel changes.