Before and after surgery for cervical cancer

How quickly you recover will depend on:

• the type of operation you have
• whether you had abdominal or laparoscopic surgery.

You will be encouraged to start moving around as soon as possible. While you are in bed, it is important to move your legs regularly and do deep breathing exercises. This is to help prevent chest infections and blood clots. You will also have daily injections of a blood-thinning drug to reduce the risk of blood clots.

If you have had lymph nodes removed, you will be encouraged to put your feet up when you are sitting. This helps to reduce leg swelling.

You will be given fluids into a vein in your hand or arm. This is called a drip or an intravenous (IV) infusion. This will be taken out as soon as you are eating and drinking normally.

You may have a drainage tube in your wound or tummy (abdomen) to drain excess fluid into a small bottle. The drain is usually removed after a few days.

You will have a tube (catheter) to drain urine from the bladder. It may be taken out a few hours after your surgery, or the next day. This depends on what type of surgery you have had. You may go home with the catheter still in place. It can be removed at a follow-up appointment or by a community nurse.

After a radical hysterectomy or trachelectomy, you may have difficulty passing urine (peeing) when the catheter has been removed. This is temporary. If it happens, a catheter is put into the bladder for 2 to 3 weeks until the bladder recovers. You can be at home while the catheter is place.

It is normal to have some pain or discomfort for a few days after surgery. But this can be controlled with painkillers. If the painkillers are not working, it is important to tell your doctor or nurse as soon as possible. They may change the dose or give you different painkillers.

Immediately after your operation, you may have strong painkillers. You may be given painkillers through one of the following:

As pain starts to improve, you will be given milder painkillers as tablets. You may be given a supply to take home.

We have more information about managing cancer pain and painkillers.

The surgeon will close your wound using clips, stitches or sometimes skin glue. Clips or stitches are usually removed after you go home. A nurse at your GP practice can do this. Some stitches, called dissolving stitches, are absorbed by the body and do not need to be removed.

Wound infections can be a complication of the surgery. Signs of wound infection include:

• heat
• redness
• swelling
• fluid or pus coming from the wound
• feeling unwell
• a fever or high temperature.

Tell your nurse or doctor if you have any of these symptoms, even after you go home. If you are unable talk to your hospital team, tell your GP or out-of-hours service.

If you are having problems being able to poo after surgery, tell your doctor or nurse. They can give you a laxative to help your bowels move. See your GP if you have problems after being discharged from hospital. It can help to drink at least 2 litres (3½ pints) of fluids each day. It can also help to eat high-fibre foods, such as fruit, vegetables and wholemeal bread.

You may feel low in mood about 3 days after surgery. This may last for 24 to 48 hours. It is a normal reaction to a stressful event such as surgery after being diagnosed with cancer. Your nurse specialist will be able to support you.

We have more information about other ways to find support.

After a radical hysterectomy or radical trachelectomy, you may have problems with your:

• bladder
• bowel
• or sex life.

This can happen if nerves in the tissue around the cervix need to be cut to remove the cancer. This can affect your bladder, bowel or sexual response. Your surgeon may use nerve-sparing or nerve-preserving surgery to reduce the risk of these complications.

If your lymph nodes have been removed, there is a risk you will develop swelling in one or both legs. This is called lymphoedema. It is caused by a build-up of lymph fluid that cannot drain away because the lymph nodes have been removed. It is more likely to happen if you have radiotherapy or chemoradiation to the pelvic area after surgery.

If you develop any problems after your surgery, tell your surgeon or nurse so that you can get the right help.

Most people do not have long-term complications after surgery for cervical cancer. But, if you have radiotherapy or chemoradiation as well as surgery, you are more likely to develop long-term complications.

We want everyone affected by cancer to feel our information is written for them.

We want our information to be as clear as possible. To do this, we try to:

• use plain English
• explain medical words
• use short sentences
• use illustrations to explain text
• structure the information clearly
• make sure important points are clear.

We use gender-inclusive language and talk to our readers as ‘you’ so that everyone feels included. Where clinically necessary we use the terms ‘men’ and ‘women’ or ‘male’ and ‘female’. For example, we do so when talking about parts of the body or mentioning statistics or research about who is affected.

You can read more about how we produce our information here.