After surgery, you will wake up in the recovery room and then be transferred to a hospital room. The evening after surgery, you will still be quite groggy. Many patients require some narcotic pain medication for several days postoperatively. You may have sips of clear liquids the evening after surgery, and your diet will be advanced slowly to soft solid food before you go home. This is usually the first day after surgery.
Many patients experience some difficulty eating solid foods for several weeks after fundoplication.
This is due to tissue swelling at the site of the stomach wrap. As the swelling goes down, solid food will pass more easily. After surgery, it is important that meals are frequent, small and semi-solid. Your surgeon and your gastroenterologist will examine you one or two weeks after surgery. Potential complications Surgical complications are rare but do occur in 2 to 4 percent of patients who undergo laparoscopic surgery.