Chest/back pain after general anaesthetic

[Popsicales]

I had a gynae procedure under light GA yesterday. I spiked a temperature of 38.2 on the ward but this did come down. I did have a sore throat. I’ve been given metronidazole.

Today I’ve woken up with back pain, rib pain and a cough but I can’t cough because my ribs and back hurt too much. The anaesthetist did say it would be common to have some muscle aches and pains. My temperature is normal (37.25).

I have done an E-consult with the GP but wondering if anyone else has experienced this before and is it just typical muscle aches after GA?

In all likelihood it’s because of how you have been positioned during surgery, not uncommon at all to have aches and pains in places that you wouldn’t expect afterwards. DD had sore shoulders after lumbar spine surgery!

’Light’ GA doesn’t exist, the only alternative is sedation. You will have been intubated which is the cause of the sore throat

I was intubated - they just said it was a mild anaesthetic as I was only out for 20-30 minutes.

You'd be better off speaking to an/the anaesthestist rather than your GP - there's a drug they may have used that can cause muscle aches (reading between the lines of your posts it may be that that is the explanation, but you'd have to ask them). If it's not due to that they they'll be able to explain if there was anything (due to the anaesthetic or the surgery) that may have predisposed to being stiff/assess whether there's anything to worry about.

Had the coil removed under GA and felt exactly like this despite it being a quick procedure. It eased off after a couple of days so could just be that.

I haven't but my dad complained he had bad chest pain after an op, he said it felt tight to breathe too (he was fine, they said it was normal)

Did you have it done via laparoscopy, @Popsicales? If you did, it will be that causing the pain. The gas put into the abdomen can push the lungs up a bit. Take peppermint tea and as you move around really swing your arms as if you are a soldier - it will help the lungs settle back into place and therefore relieve your pain.

rubbish. The majority of the gas is released at the end of surgery and has no impact at all on lung anatomy - we'd be killing people regularly if we were sending them home with a big enough pneumoperitoneum to distort their thorax! Peppermint is helpful for trapped wind in the bowels which can happen with any abdomino-pelvic surgery, but the majority of any pneumoperitoneum is actually exhaled.

@Greybeardy I suppose that I dreamt this up too?
www.uhs.nhs.uk/Media/UHS-website-2019/Patientinformation/Womenshealth/Recovering-well-after-gynaecological-laparoscopic-surgery-2082-PIL.pdf

@Greybeardy I had upper abdominal pain after laparoscopy caused by remaining gas. It took a few days to go away.

Peppermint tea does fuck all because the gas is in the abdominal cavity not the intestines.

There is not enough gas left behind to ‘push the lungs up a bit’ as your post states and your lungs do not need to ‘settle back into place’. FWIW I’m an anaesthetist and have spent years and years managing ventilation intraoperatively and then watching the surgeons deflating the abdomen before closing. We can measure the rise in exhaled CO2 when a laparoscopy is done so can see that that’s the primary way any trapped gas is expelled from the body (quite a bit of our time is spent managing patients’ ventilation in theatre to compensate for that rise in CO2 so that the blood doesn’t become too acidic). A small amount of gas does get trapped at the end despite best efforts and is usually absorbed and mainly exhaled over a few days. Carbon dioxide makes the fluid in the peritoneum acidic before it’s absorbed and as you’d imagine that is irritant. Typically most of that gas will rise up to under the diaphragm and cause irritation there and is often felt as shoulder tip pain because of the shared innervation. People do get trapped wind in the bowels after laparoscopies (as well as after open surgery), a bit of which may be related to the gas insufflation, and as peppermint is an antispasmodic that can help to relieve that but the majority of your statement about lungs being displaced and swinging your arms like a soldier to reposition the lungs was absolute nonsense. HTH.

@Greybeardy, ooh thanks. For us mere plebs, it all comes down to the same thing, no???
I'm so pleased for you that you've had your moment of triumph (which is of no use to the OP by the way).
Go you. Meanwhile, I've had many laparoscopic surgeries, and I posted from my experience and understanding of them.
I'm very pleased I've never had anyone as sympathetic as you involved in my care.

Why do you have such an issue with a medical professional coming on to the thread with factual information? Not a moment of triumph or unsympathetic whatsoever, just being helpful.