Bladder and Bowel Care After Surgery

After any kind of surgery, many people have slow bowels and trouble urinating. This is common and lasts for a few days or so. But it’s important to manage these changes so they don’t cause serious problems. This sheet will help you understand and manage your bowel and bladder function after surgery.

Types of bladder and bowel issues

  • Urinary retention. This is when you have trouble urinating. You may have trouble starting a urine stream. In some cases you may not be able to pass any urine at all. This occurs even if your bladder is full.
  • Ileus. This is when the digestive tract slows down or stops. As a result, waste can’t move through your bowels and out of your body. This can cause belly (abdominal) pain and other symptoms.

What causes bladder and bowel issues after surgery?

The normal function of the urinary tract and the bowels can change for many reasons. The medicines used for anesthesia during surgery can change nerve and muscle signals. Opioid pain medicines can also do this. Try to take only the amount of pain medicine needed to control your pain. Also ask your surgeon about alternatives to opioid medicines for easing your pain.

The type of surgery may also directly affect how the bladder or bowels work.

You may not have had much to eat or drink before surgery. And you may have had a urinary catheter during surgery. These things can change how you urinate or move your bowels after surgery.

While you're in the hospital

You’ll need to:

  • Drink and eat as much as you are instructed.
  • Talk with the healthcare staff about how much you’re able to pee or poop.
  • Move and walk as soon as instructed after surgery. This will help your bladder and bowels get back to normal faster. The healthcare staff will help you move and walk safely.
  • Tell the healthcare staff if you have pain, bloating, or fullness in your belly.

The healthcare staff will:

  • Listen to your belly sounds to make sure your bowels are starting to function.
  • Check your belly to make sure it's not getting too bloated (distended).

If you had a urinary catheter, your nurses will monitor you after it is removed to make sure you can pee. They may measure the amount of urine you pass each time. This may be done by having you pee into a container in the toilet.

After you go home

Call your healthcare provider right away if you have any of these problems:

  • Not able to pass urine
  • Not able to pass stool or gas
  • Fever of 100.4ºF (38ºC) or higher, or as directed by your provider
  • Bladder or lower-belly pain or fullness
  • Belly swelling, nausea, vomiting, or back pain
  • Weakness, dizziness, or fainting
  • Confusion or change in normal level of alertness
  • Getting full very easily with only small amounts of food or drink
  • Bleeding from the rectum
  • Black, tarry stool

If you go home with a catheter, call your provider if any of these happen:

  • Blood or urine leaking around the catheter
  • Bloody urine coming from the catheter (if a new symptom)
  • Catheter falls out
  • Catheter stops draining for 6 hours