1. Physical recovery
From which all women need to recovery, then comes the
2. Psychological recovery
Which varies for woman to woman then the
3. Long term expectations and those unanswered questions.
Physical recovery:
This depends on a number of issues. If surgery was undertaken by laparoscopy then hospital stay is a little as 24 hours and recovery afterwards will be the same as for a standard laparoscopy.
For women who have had their fallopian tube removed for the ectopic pregnancy (salpingectomy) require no immediate follow up.
Those who have had their tube preserved (salpingotomy) may require visits to their early pregnancy units after about 2-4 days to have their pregnancy hormone checked to make sure that the pregnancy has completely resolved.
Women are discharged with painkillers and they are advised to take these on a regular basis for the first few days and then on an as required basis. Usually for the majority of women the pain subsides within a week and by the beginning of the second week painkillers are no longer required.
Women would be advised regarding wound care. As absorbable sutures are used for the tiny laparoscopy wounds, these normally fall out within the first week or two. Women are usually advised that they can take showers with the sutures but should avoid sitting in the bath or going swimming until the sutures have fallen out.
Physical activity should be graduated, within the first day or so women should be able to climb stairs assisted by a carer. For the first day they will be advised not to operate complicated machinery and not to use the iron or use the kettle so that they avoid being burned if they become dizzy. By the end of the week they should be able to venture out to the “corner shop” to get the newspaper and maybe take a short walk.
Most women should be able to make a full physical recovery within 2 weeks and are thus able to return to work depending on what work they do.