After Your Tubal Reversal

Before Surgery Day of Surgery Pregnancy

What to Expect After Your Tubal Reversal

Surgical techs at Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center are specially trained in tubal ligation reversal surgery.

Christina Hobgood, ST
Surgical Technologist

After Surgery/During the Post-Operative Period

Dr. Berger uses a local anesthetic during surgery to help reduce post-operative discomfort. You will be given Hydrocodone with acetaminophen 5/500 (Vicodin) or a comparable medication in case you need it for pain relief following surgery. You should also bring a bottle of Ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, etc) to have with you in your hotel room. Dr. Berger recommends you take Ibuprofen for several days following your surgery to help decrease pain and swelling. A nurse will give you instructions on how to take these medications. Please bring a thermometer so that you can check your temperature the night of surgery and the following morning. You will only be allowed to have clear, non-carbonated liquids immediately after surgery, so you may want to bring some clear liquids with you to have available in your hotel room. These may include Jell-O, water, apple juice, lemonade (without pulp), tea, and white grape juice. Avoid salty or high sodium foods and beverages for a few days after surgery to help to minimize swelling due to water retention after surgery. You should not eat solid food until after you have passed gas (flatus). For some patients, this will happen within a few hours, but it is not unusual for there to be a delay until the morning after surgery. It is very important that you remain on clear liquids until after you have passed gas. During surgery, bowel activity will slow down and eating solid food before peristalsis (muscular contractions of the intestine) returns can result in nausea, vomiting, or bowel dysfunction.

On a person of average weight, the incision length will be approximately 3 inches long. Based on your abdominal girth, the incision may be longer to provide better exposure for your tubal surgery. Staples are not used to close the incision. You will have steri-strips over the incision that will need to be removed after 5 days. You will have internal stitches that will dissolve on their own. On each end of your incision there will be a suture knot that will need to be clipped, above skin level, 10 days after surgery. A nurse will show and instruct you on how to do this. You should wash the incision area with soap and water in the shower daily starting the morning after surgery and blot the area dry completely after washing. In between showers the area should be kept clean and dry.

"Dr. Berger - Thanks to you and your wonderful staff I delivered a happy healthy baby boy named Riley Chase Hollenbeck. We have decided to start trying for TR baby #2 soon.." Read More

Some discomfort or burning around the incision site may be experienced for several days after surgery. You will feel muscle soreness when you sit and stand. A hardness or "healing ridge" is normal beneath the incision and will soften after several weeks. If you develop a temperature of more than 100° F, redness, or discharge from the incision, call our office to speak to a nurse or page Dr. Berger. Each person has a different pain threshold, but the medications we have prescribed should keep you comfortable. If you experience discomfort that is not controlled by pain medication, please call our office to speak to a nurse or page Dr. Berger.

Although everyone recovers at a different rate, most patients are able to return home the day after their surgery and to their normal activities within a week to ten days. We recommend that patients who are travelling more than 12 hours stay an extra day before returning home. Heavy lifting (more than 15 pounds) should be avoided for 4 weeks, but you may resume other activities of daily living as you are comfortable. Walking short distances is not only okay, but it also will help you feel back to normal more quickly in most cases and will help to decrease complications associated with inactivity after surgery.

You may resume intercourse and trying to conceive when you feel completely recovered from your surgery.

Follow-up:

One of our nurses will be in contact with you during the first few days after your tubal reversal. We will then contact you at regular intervals after surgery to inquire about how you are doing. If you have questions at any point following surgery, you can contact us by phone or e-mail. Most questions can be addressed during regular business hours. However, you will receive an after hours number and Dr. Berger’s pager number for any emergency calls that need to be addressed outside of normal hours.

It will be helpful to use an ovulation predictor kit following your surgery. You can purchase kits over the counter at any drugstore or online at www.saveontests.com. There are instructions with the kit, but we will provide you with directions for use during your consultation. If you do not detect your LH surge while using the kit, please contact one of the nurses to let us know. We are happy to make recommendations on follow-up care with your local doctor. If any fertility medications will be used after reversal, these will need to be ordered by your local doctor so you can be closely monitored.

If you are not pregnant within 12 months following your tubal reversal, Dr. Berger will recommend an HSG (hysterosalpingogram) x-ray to check on the status of your fallopian tubes. If you have an HSG, please instruct the radiologist to send your x-ray films as well as the typed report to Dr. Berger to review.