“How long does my husband need to recover after his appendectomy?”
My husband needed to have emergency surgery because his appendix had burst. There were no complications in the surgery, and now he's in recovery. How long should he stay home from work after this surgery?
7 Answers
Discuss this with his Surgeon.
2-4 weeks
My patients return after a week.
How long it takes to recover from an appendectomy after a ruptured appendix depends on a few factors. If the surgery was done with laparoscopy vs. open surgery, then the recovery will be faster, often only a few days. If the ruptured appendix had extensive contamination of the abdominal cavity, then he may need antibiotics in the hospital for several days vs. minimal soilage of the abdomen needing hardly any additional treatment with antibiotics. In the best scenario, he may be recovered within the week whereas the most challenging scenario may require 2 to 3 weeks for full recovery.
I hope this helps.
I hope this helps.
It depends on a few factors: was the surgery laproscopic or open? Was there a lot of contamination? To be honest, your husband's surgeon should be giving you advice on this matter. The other factor is what type of work does your husband do? If it is very physical, it will be longer. If the surgery was open and there was a lot of contamination, it will be longer. Each person is different and a blanket answer cannot be given. Your surgeon should be telling you about this. Make sure you ask at the next office visit.
People who do desk jobs and work on a computer all day can do that whenever they feel like it, generally about 3-10 business day. People who are active or do manual labor may need to wait 2-4 weeks.
To have your appendix burst on you is not a good thing, I'm sure you know. The doctor who did the surgery should have told you it is not known how long a person will take to recover after appendix surgery. The healing time will vary, but to be safe, I would think that when he is not in pain when active. It depends on what type of work he does. Ask your doctor to be sure.
