Passing Gas After Abdominal or Other Types of Surgery

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsSignificanceSymptomsCausesPrevention

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

Significance

Symptoms

Causes

Prevention

Why focus onpassing gasafter surgery? If you can’t pass gas, it could mean you are developing a condition called post-operative ileus (POI). POI means your intestines are not moving food through your body properly.

After surgery, you may be told to let your nurse know if you pass gas.

Verywell / Brianna Gilmartin

This article explains why it’s important to pass gas after surgery and what it could mean if you cannot.

Importance of Gas After Surgery

You may haveanesthesiato put you to sleep during surgery. The medication can slow down or even stop the gut from moving food and waste from your stomach through the digestive tract. When this slowdown happens, it’s called a delay in gastric motility or POI.

A POI means that it takes your intestines longer to recover from anesthesia than the rest of you. The slowdown can be mild, or it can be severe enough to need medical treatment.

The ability to pass gas is a clear sign that your digestive system is waking up. If you can pass gas, you either didn’t have a POI, or it is improving.

You may have had abowel preparationto clean the stool out of your body before surgery. If so, it may be several days before you have a bowel movement. Gas may pass long before a stool does, showing that your bowels are working well.

If you had outpatient surgery, your healthcare team may even require you to pass gas before you go home. The staff doesn’t want to send you home with a POI that could become serious. That’s the reason it’s important to let them know when you pass gas.

A delay in gastric motility is usually brief. A more severe POI may call for a longer hospital stay.Severe symptoms can include:

Sometimes people have nausea, vomiting, and painafter surgery. Because these symptoms can have different causes, it’s a good idea to talk to your healthcare provider any time you have these symptoms while you are recovering.

An Overview of Ileus Symptoms and Causes

Reasons You Can’t Pass Gas After Surgery

Abdominal Surgeries

One theory is that POI happens when your intestines are handled during surgery.For example, your surgeon may move them out of the way to reach other body parts. Or you may have had surgery directly on your intestines.

If your intestines were handled, your body’s immune system may be triggered. White blood cells and other types of cells may rush to the area, causing a slowdown.

Disruption to the Nervous System

Another theory involves your nervous system. Your nervous system has two “departments.” Thesympathetic nervous system(SNS) normally makes your intestines move less. The parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) makes your intestines move more. After surgery, your SNS may have more control for a short time.

Electrolyte Imbalance

Surgery and fluid and electrolyte over-replacement post-surgery can cause an imbalance in yourelectrolytes.Electrolytes (such as potassium and calcium) are minerals needed for key functions in the body, such as normal digestion.

Side Effect of Medication

It’s also possible that pain medications could raise your risk of a POI. Opioid medications can causeconstipation after surgery. If you are takingopioid medicationsfor pain relief, or if you already had issues with your intestines before this surgery, you have a higher risk of developing POI.

Preventing a POI is not always possible, but there are ways to lower the risk.

Less-invasive surgeries also have a lower risk of POI. These procedures typically use tools inserted through small incisions, such aslaparoscopy.POIs may not last as long as they might with open surgeries with larger incisions. That may be because you are under anesthesia for a shorter time and there is less disruption to your body.

Two simple strategies to prevent a POI may be chewing gum and drinking coffee after surgery. Other effective solutions include:

Walking after surgery may also help reduce the severity of symptoms and speed the return to normal.

Summary

Passing gas after surgery is important. If you can’t pass gas soon after surgery, it may mean that a post-operative ileus, or gastric delay, is happening.

To lower your risk, maintain a healthy diet, and try chewing gum or walking after surgery.

5 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Buchanan L, Tuma F.Postoperative ileus. In: StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing; 2023.Sanfilippo F, Spoletini G.Perspectives on the importance of postoperative ileus.Curr Med Res Opin. 2015;31(4):675-6. doi:10.1185/03007995.2015.1027184Vilz TO, Stoffels B, Strassburg C, Schild HH, Kalff JC.Ileus in adults.Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2017;114(29-30):508–518. doi:10.3238/arztebl.2017.0508Venara A, Neunlist M, Slim K, et al.Postoperative ileus: Pathophysiology, incidence, and prevention. Journal of Visceral Surgery. 2016;153(6):439-446. doi: 10.1016/j.jviscsurg.2016.08.010Bragg D, El-Sharkawy AM, Psaltis E, Maxwell-Armstrong CA, Lobo DN.Postoperative ileus: Recent developments in pathophysiology and management. Clin Nutr. 2015 Jun;34(3):367-76. doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2015.01.016

5 Sources

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Buchanan L, Tuma F.Postoperative ileus. In: StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing; 2023.Sanfilippo F, Spoletini G.Perspectives on the importance of postoperative ileus.Curr Med Res Opin. 2015;31(4):675-6. doi:10.1185/03007995.2015.1027184Vilz TO, Stoffels B, Strassburg C, Schild HH, Kalff JC.Ileus in adults.Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2017;114(29-30):508–518. doi:10.3238/arztebl.2017.0508Venara A, Neunlist M, Slim K, et al.Postoperative ileus: Pathophysiology, incidence, and prevention. Journal of Visceral Surgery. 2016;153(6):439-446. doi: 10.1016/j.jviscsurg.2016.08.010Bragg D, El-Sharkawy AM, Psaltis E, Maxwell-Armstrong CA, Lobo DN.Postoperative ileus: Recent developments in pathophysiology and management. Clin Nutr. 2015 Jun;34(3):367-76. doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2015.01.016

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Buchanan L, Tuma F.Postoperative ileus. In: StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing; 2023.Sanfilippo F, Spoletini G.Perspectives on the importance of postoperative ileus.Curr Med Res Opin. 2015;31(4):675-6. doi:10.1185/03007995.2015.1027184Vilz TO, Stoffels B, Strassburg C, Schild HH, Kalff JC.Ileus in adults.Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2017;114(29-30):508–518. doi:10.3238/arztebl.2017.0508Venara A, Neunlist M, Slim K, et al.Postoperative ileus: Pathophysiology, incidence, and prevention. Journal of Visceral Surgery. 2016;153(6):439-446. doi: 10.1016/j.jviscsurg.2016.08.010Bragg D, El-Sharkawy AM, Psaltis E, Maxwell-Armstrong CA, Lobo DN.Postoperative ileus: Recent developments in pathophysiology and management. Clin Nutr. 2015 Jun;34(3):367-76. doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2015.01.016

Buchanan L, Tuma F.Postoperative ileus. In: StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing; 2023.

Sanfilippo F, Spoletini G.Perspectives on the importance of postoperative ileus.Curr Med Res Opin. 2015;31(4):675-6. doi:10.1185/03007995.2015.1027184

Vilz TO, Stoffels B, Strassburg C, Schild HH, Kalff JC.Ileus in adults.Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2017;114(29-30):508–518. doi:10.3238/arztebl.2017.0508

Venara A, Neunlist M, Slim K, et al.Postoperative ileus: Pathophysiology, incidence, and prevention. Journal of Visceral Surgery. 2016;153(6):439-446. doi: 10.1016/j.jviscsurg.2016.08.010

Bragg D, El-Sharkawy AM, Psaltis E, Maxwell-Armstrong CA, Lobo DN.Postoperative ileus: Recent developments in pathophysiology and management. Clin Nutr. 2015 Jun;34(3):367-76. doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2015.01.016

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