Question-------------------------
Followup To
Question -
My wife was given senacott(a laxative) 3 days after having a hysterectomy (which i was told was a common procedure)and by that time she hadn't eaten for 4 days,but she has a history of bowel problems (they think divictulitus).
She was recovering well from her op and due to go home in the next couple of days,but the day after she was given the senacott she started to get worse and 4 days later had to have a emergency operation to remove a absess,which has resulted in her having a colostomy bag.
Do you think senacott was the right treatment
Thank You
Answer -
I don't think the Senekot had anything to do with the abscess. Your wife either had an abscess from the diverticula or the bowel was perforated by the doctor during the surgery. Senekot is a common laxative used post surgery to help things get going after the bowels have been slowed down by the narcotic pain medicine and the surgery itself.
Hope this helps...
Thank you for your reply
I can't understand why they would give a laxative to someone with a empty bowel and with a bowel disease
She had severe endometreoisis and it was attached to her ovary & bowel (they had to use 2 scalpels removing it because the first went blunt because of the size of it), before they carried out the op she had a bowel prep,so her bowel was empty.Taking this into account is it possible that the senekot at least made the problem worse?
Thank You for your time
AnswerAs is usually the case with problems like this, the answer is not simple. 3 days post operatively would be about the right time frame for an abscess to develop if the bowel was punctured during surgery. I am not sure who gave you the information on the "scalpel going dull" but that doesn't really make sense medically. Scalpels used to incise tissue don't go dull because there was a big organ to cut.
Also, I am limited in my ability to answer because of lack of information. Even if she had not begun to eat, the stomach, and intestines make fluid and semi solid material, so there still would be some residue even if she hadn't eaten yet. However, I see your point, and agree with it... she really didn't need any Senekot or other laxatives at that point. Now, did it make it worse... that is a tough call... it is possible it made it worse, however I am not sure how I would be able to prove it, since there is nothing to compare to.
Hope she's getting better...
