Pain, nausea and vomiting

When you come into hospital, you will be given medicines to help with sickness and pain.

These medicines may not be given to you regularly. Instead, they may be prescribed as PRN (‘pro re nata’ or as needed).

This means you will not be asked if you want them at every medicine round.

You need to ask for them when you feel you need them.

It is very important to tell your nurse if you:

  • are in pain
  • feel sick (nausea)
  • are being sick (vomiting)

If you do not tell us, it may slow down your recovery and make it harder for you to follow the Enhanced Recovery Programme.

 

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Pain relief following surgery

It is common to worry about pain after surgery.

It is normal to have some pain after an operation.

Our aim is to reduce your pain and keep it under control.

We may not be able to remove all pain completely.

If you already live with long-term or ongoing pain, please tell:

  • your anaesthetist
  • your surgeon
  • the doctors and nurses caring for you

Please also tell us all the pain medicines or substances you use, including:

  • prescribed medicines
  • medicines you buy yourself (over-the-counter)
  • herbal remedies
  • any non-prescribed substances

This helps us choose the safest and best pain relief for you.

While you are in hospital, staff will regularly ask you about your pain.

When you answer, please think about how your pain feels when you move, not just when you are resting.

Your pain should be controlled enough so you can:

  • breathe deeply
  • cough
  • move around

If you can eat and drink after your surgery, you may be given pain relief as tablets or liquid.

For some types of surgery, you may be offered other kinds of pain relief.

Your anaesthetist or surgeon will explain these options if they are right for you.

Spinal anaesthetic

You may be given a spinal injection before or during your operation. 

This injection helps reduce pain straight after surgery.

It also gives other pain medicines time to start working.

When you wake up after your operation, your legs may feel heavy or numb. 

This is normal after a spinal injection. 

The feeling and movement in your legs will slowly return.

This usually happens within six hours after you get back to the ward.

As the spinal injection wears off, you may notice your pain starts to increase.

There are different ways we can help manage your pain.

Your healthcare team will work with you to keep you as comfortable as possible.

Oral painkillers

After your surgery, if you can eat and drink, you will be given painkillers by mouth.

There are two main types:

1. Long‑acting tablets

  • These work slowly.
  • You take them at regular times during the day.
  • They help keep your pain at a steady, manageable level.
  • They are not likely to take all the pain away.

2. Short‑acting tablets or liquids

  • These work quickly.
  • You can take them when your pain gets worse.
  • This is sometimes called ‘breakthrough pain’ relief.

Using both types together helps keep your pain under control so you can:

  • breathe deeply
  • cough
  • move around comfortably

If you cannot eat or drink, there are other ways we can give you pain relief to keep you comfortable.

Patient-controlled analgesia (PCA)

A PCA is a special locked machine that holds a syringe of strong pain medicine.
You will be given a button to press when you need pain relief.

When you press the button:

  • the machine gives you a small dose of medicine straight into your vein
  • the medicine works quickly

For safety, the machine will lock for 5 minutes after each dose.
This stops you from getting too much medicine.

When you are able to eat and drink again, we can usually change your pain relief from the PCA to tablets or liquid.

You can press the PCA button before doing something that may cause pain, such as:

  • coughing
  • physiotherapy
  • moving around

This can help make these activities more comfortable.

Wound infusion

A wound infusion is a way of giving pain relief directly to the area where you had your surgery.

During your operation:

  • one or two very thin tubes are placed near the wound
  • these tubes are connected to a locked machine

The machine gives a steady, continuous flow of local anaesthetic.

This helps keep the area numb and more comfortable.

The amount of medicine you receive can be adjusted to make sure your pain is well-controlled.

Epidural

An epidural infusion is a way to keep part of your body numb and free from pain.

A thin tube is placed in your back before or during your operation.

The epidural sends medicine through this tube to help control pain in the area where you had surgery.

While the epidural is working, staff will regularly check:

  • how strong your arms and legs feel
  • how well you can move them

This is to make sure you are safe.

Staff will also check how well the epidural is working by spraying a cold liquid on your skin.

In the numb areas, you may feel:

  • less cold, or
  • no cold at all

This is normal when you have an epidural.

Acute pain team

The Acute Pain Team is a group of staff who help patients with pain after surgery.

The team includes an anaesthetist and specialist pain nurses.

If you have a PCA, wound infusion, or epidural, a pain nurse will usually visit you on the next working day after your operation to see how you are doing.

We aim to visit you every weekday while you are using one of these types of pain relief.

We will also come to see you if:

  • your pain is worse than expected, or
  • your pain medicines are not working well enough

 

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