How to care for lung cancer patients after surgery? Six nursing measures for lung cancer patients after surgery

If lung cancer is serious, it will take the patient's life. Therefore, once the disease occurs, patients will choose to undergo surgery for treatment. So, how should these patients be cared for after the operation? I believe that most people are not very clear about this. Let's learn about it together.

1. Intravenous infusion: Generally, the infusion volume should not exceed 1500-2000 ml within 24 hours. Patients can drink water orally 4 hours after returning to the ward after surgery, and resume normal diet within 1-2 days. The intravenous infusion tube should be retained for a few days until normal diet is resumed.

2. Tubes and drainage: chest drainage tube. After the operation, 1-2 tubes are led out from the chest cavity to drain the blood and air in the chest until the remaining lung is fully expanded and the lung section is healed without air leakage, which takes about 2-5 days. Some patients have gastrointestinal decompression tubes, which can usually be removed after the intestinal function is restored and the anus is exhausted.

3. Patient position. Before the patient wakes up from general anesthesia, he or she should lie flat without a pillow and turn the head to one side. Oral or respiratory secretions should be suctioned out in time to prevent aspiration pneumonia. After waking up, the patient generally needs to sit in a high semi-sitting position to facilitate drainage.

4. Pain management. After the anesthesia wears off, the incision will feel painful when it is stimulated. The pain will affect the patient's lung function training, thus affecting recovery and even causing complications. For example, if the patient's breathing is shallow and secretions cannot be eliminated, some analgesics can be used orally or intravenously to control the pain.

5. Activities. If the postoperative analgesia effect is good, in principle, activities should be started as early as possible. Deep breathing exercises should be performed in bed early on. For those with a lot of phlegm, coughing and sputum training should be performed, and limb activities should be carried out to prevent lower limb thrombosis.

6. Incision care: Change the dressing regularly after surgery and the stitches can usually be removed after 7-9 days.

Experts remind: Patients with lung cancer are very weak after surgery, so they need to be carefully cared for. At the same time, patients should be given more nutrition and rest so that they can recover as soon as possible. In addition, patients themselves should also maintain a good attitude and face the disease positively.