What should be used for bloating/constipation after BA surgery?

Thank you for your question. Abdominal swelling is normal after breast augmentation. Swelling follows gravity and thus your abdomen (and sometimes the thighs) will experience more swelling and add confusion to the post-op period. You may even notice that you've added many pounds on the scale that cannot be explained solely by the addition of implants. You should notice a decrease in the abdominal swelling with each week that passes by.  As far as constipation, I would recommend stool softeners and fiber supplements to help.  If it persists, then I would talk to your plastic surgeon about some prescription medications that can help with the constipation.

All narcotics like Percocet, Vicondin, Noco, Codeine have significant side effects of nausea, vomiting, bloating and constipation. I recommend the use of Celebrex and Acetominophen (does not make you drowsy and less chance of nausea) plus intraoperative use of Exparel. Exparel is a very long-acting local anesthetic that lasts approximately 3 or more days following injection and great for Tummy Tucks and other surgeries. Not only does it prevent pain but also most muscle spasms. It lasts the same length of time that a pain pump lasts and will therefore take the place of a pain pump. This means patients can enjoy the same effect of a pain pump, but without any catheters and no pain pump to carry around.Exparel will be available for those concerned about minimizing discomfort after surgeries such as tummy tuck and breast augmentation.Exparel costs the same as a pain pump and produces the same result but with less hassle and works great.Narcotics are used only as needed (as cause nausea, vomiting and constipation as frequent sided effects).We also have our patients put on a Scopolamine patch the morning of surgery and leave it on for 3 days and to have other antinausea meds at home like Emend or Odansetron oral dissolving tablets.

Some of the abdominal symptoms seen after breast augmentation can be related to narcotic pain medication use. Minimizing the use of these medications will help. Many surgeons are now using a long acting local anesthetic called exparel to help minimize the amount of pain medication needed with surgery. You can also use over the counter stool softeners like colace after your procedure. I have seen quite a few patients that have abdominal swelling after breast surgery who haven't used any narcotic pain medication though. The good thing is that the swelling is very temporary and is usually gone in about 10 days.