Why do you vomit after your whipple surgery?

Answer 1

Whipple surgery, also called Whipple procedure is named after the famous American surgeon Allen O. Whipple (1881 - 1963) who first described Whipple Disease. During this surgical procedure the head of the pancreas, the duodenum, a portion of the stomach, and other local tissues are excised. This is a major operation. Most surgeries cause patients to be nauseated and to throw up after surgery. There are many reasons for this. The two obvious ones are (a) the medications used during anaesthesia are poisons and the body attempts to "throw them out" by vomiting and the second (b) is the fact that the whipple surgery is a major operation involving the stomach. During this procedure the stomach becomes less active and the gut is temporarily slow. Introduction of food or fluids into the "quiet" stomach (no peristaltic activities) results in reverse peristalsis (vomitinng). During my twenty plus years as a Registered Nurse I did met very few patients who were not sick after surgery. Patients were sick after all surgeries, not just after whipple surgery. Patients are ususally more sick after surgery involving the stomach, intestines and the oesophagus. General complications of all surgeries can be read at: http://www.healthmad.com/Nursing/Postoperative-Complications.34869