However, patients are generally admitted on the morning of surgery after fasting overnight. Blood tests will be done before surgery, and an anesthesiologist will come to interview you in the preoperative holding area. Anti-reflux surgery is performed under general anesthesia. 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.