Tips for pain management -at home after pectus repair (1786)
Key points below
At home after pectus repair
This is about medicines used after pectus repair. Ask your nurse or pharmacist if you need more information on these medicines. Follow all the details on the medicine labels.Ibuprofen (Advil®, Motrin®)
- This is for pain and is very helpful after pectus repair surgery. It helps to decrease swelling.
- Give every 6 hours while your child is awake until your child’s pain is nearly gone. You do not need to wake your child at night to give it. It can be given at the same time as other medicines. Do not give more than 4 doses in 24 hours.
- You may give it with food to help prevent any stomach upset.
Acetaminophen (Tylenol®)
- This is for pain.
- Give every 6 hours when your child is awake. You do not need to wake your child at night to give it. Do not give more than 4 doses in 24 hours.
- As your child heals, you can give this less often until they no longer need it at all. Most often, this will be a few weeks.
Valium
- This is to help relax tight, twitching muscles, called spasms. It is sometimes used for severe anxiety.
- Many patients do not need this medicine.
- This should be given only if your child has spasms or severe anxiety.
- Do not give this more often than every 6 hours. Do not wake your child to give it. Do not
give it at the same time as oxycodone.
Oxycodone
- See teaching sheets #1781 (pill form) or #1601 (liquid form).
- It should be given only if your child has severe pain where they had surgery.
- Do not give this more often than every 4 hours.
- Do not wake your child to give oxycodone.
- As your child heals, your child will need oxycodone less often. They will be able to go longer between doses.
- Taking a lot of oxycodone can make your child have a hard time pooping. This can be very uncomfortable.
- To help prevent this your child can:
- Eat foods that are high in fiber like fruits and vegetables.
- Drink plenty of water and other fluids.
- You can give your child over the counter medicine to help while they are taking the oxycodone. Two medicines that might help are
- Miralax™ and Senokot S™. These soften poop and help your child poop. The store brand of these medicines are also fine to use. Your
- AVS will have more information.
- If your child doesn’t poop every 1 to 2 days, contact the surgery clinic for instructions.
Do not give valium and oxycodone at the same time. Together they can make your child too sleepy and it is unsafe. Wait for at least 1 hour after you give one to give the other medicine.
If your child sleeps all night, they might hurt in the morning because they have not had any medicine for a while.
- You can give your child oxycodone and ibuprofen before they get out of bed.
- Then let them stay in bed for 45 minutes before getting up. This makes mornings easier.
As your child heals they will be doing more.
- For a little while, this might make the pain worse. They may feel sore that night or the next day. You may need to give more medicine the next day even though you gave less the days before.
- Remind your child to do their arm exercises even if your child is sore.
Pain Rescue Plan:
- If you child has severe, uncontrolled pain:
- Be sure they have taken ibuprofen, Tylenol, oxycodone and valium as instructed. Keep in mind, it takes 30 minutes for the medicines to start working.
- In this situation, you may give an extra dose of oxycodone once, if it has been 30 minutes and your child’s pain is not improving.
Call the surgery clinic if you are worried. The phone number to call is on your After Visit Summary (AVS).