How to care for lung cancer after surgery? Daily care methods for lung cancer recovery after surgery

After the lung cancer surgery is completed, daily care is also an important issue. The quality of postoperative care will directly determine the patient's health and whether the cancer cells spread and metastasize. If the postoperative care for lung cancer is not ideal, there is a possibility of recurrence of lung cancer.

Pay attention to expectoration. After lung cancer surgery, patients should actively perform respiratory rehabilitation exercises to prevent atelectasis and respiratory infections. Within 24 to 48 hours after surgery, patients should be asked to cough and take deep breaths 5 to 10 times every one or two hours. Within 3 days after surgery, nurses or family members should assist patients in coughing and expectorating 4 to 6 times a day. The specific method is: stand on the non-surgical side of the patient, stretch out your arms, put your fingers together, hold the patient's surgical side chest from the front and back chest walls, and let the patient follow you to take a deep breath. When inhaling, gently support the incision, and then ask the patient to cough hard, press the ribs when coughing, help expectorate, and pat the patient's back gently. Repeat several times until the patient coughs up all the sputum.

Muscle rehabilitation: Since lung cancer surgery requires large incisions and involves the cutting of many muscles, muscle adhesion and stiffness are very likely to occur after surgery. Therefore, the recovery of muscle function is also an important part of rehabilitation care.

On the second day after surgery, family members should assist the patient in bending, lifting, and adducting the shoulder and arm on the operated side every four hours, and pay attention to the patient's sitting and walking posture at any time. If oblique shoulders or upper body scoliosis are found, they should be corrected in time to avoid the occurrence of scoliosis. On the third day after surgery, encourage and urge the patient to use the operated arm to hold a teacup, eat, and comb his hair, and use the operated hand to reach over the top of the head to touch the ear on the opposite side several times a day. A rope can be tied to the end rail of the bed, and the patient can pull the rope with the operated arm to practice sitting up, lying down, and getting out of bed by himself, which can enhance the muscle tension of the shoulder, arm, and back muscles on the operated side.

The earlier the rehabilitation exercise, the better. Before waking up from general anesthesia, the patient should lie flat without a pillow, with the head tilted to one side, and oral or respiratory secretions should be sucked out in time to prevent aspiration pneumonia. After waking up, take a semi-recumbent position, which is conducive to the drainage of pleural effusion and relieve wound pain. At the same time, the diaphragm descends, which is conducive to improving respiratory and circulatory functions.

Rehabilitation exercises should be started as soon as possible after surgery, that is, after the patient wakes up from general anesthesia. At this time, the nurse or family member can begin to assist the patient in lifting his hips and moving his limbs, massaging the upper limb on the operated side, and reaching under the patient's back to rub the back muscles to improve blood circulation and restore muscle tension. From the first day after surgery, if the vital signs (blood pressure, breathing, pulse) are stable and the chest drainage tube is fixed, the patient can be encouraged to move in bed. After the drainage tube is removed, the patient can be helped to get out of bed and walk indoors for 3 to 5 minutes every 4 hours in the early stage, and the patient can be allowed to get out of bed and move around on his own later.

Compared with digestive tract surgery, the diet of lung cancer patients after surgery should be easier to solve. At this time, it is advisable to choose milk, eggs, lean meat, animal liver, soy products, fresh vegetables and fruits, etc., and appropriately increase the patient's food intake and frequency of eating. At the same time, pay attention to avoid fishy and greasy foods, spicy foods, tobacco, alcohol and other irritating foods.

For cough, hemoptysis and other problems after lung cancer surgery, you can take some prescriptions and food recipes under the guidance of a doctor, adjust your daily diet reasonably, and do some exercises that are conducive to recovery. Let everything go in the direction of recovery.