CHAPTER OUTLINE
CONTROL OF POSTOPERATIVE BLEEDING
CONTROL OF POSTOPERATIVE PAIN AND DISCOMFORT
Diet
Oral Hygiene
Edema
Control of Infection
Trismus
Ecchymosis
POSTOPERATIVE FOLLOW-UP VISIT
OPERATIVE NOTE FOR THE RECORDS
Once the surgical procedure has been completed, patients should be given proper instructions on how to care for themselves for the remainder of
the day of surgery and for a few days afterward. If the patient is to receive intravenous (IV) sedation, the postoperative management instructions must be discussed before the sedation is given. These instructions should
also be repeated to the patient’s escort before discharge from the office:
Postoperative instructions should predict what the patient is likely to experience, explain why these phenomena occur, and tell the patient how to manage and . control the typical postoperative sequelae. The instruction must be given to the patient verbally and on a written sheet. The instruction sheet should describe the typical problems and their management. It should also include a phone number at which the surgeon can be reached in an emergency. The language must be clear and simple enough to be followed by all patients. A typical post operative instruction sheet is found in Appendix V. This chapter discusses common postoperative problems and methods of controlling them.