My Spine - Cervical
Are there any side-effects to PCA?
Side-effects are sometimes encountered. It is normal to feel drowsy, howev-
er, if this is excessive you may need to be treated for it.
It is not uncommon to experience some nausea or even vomiting after having
had an operation and there are many reasons for this. If you experience
nausea, please tell a member of staff and an injection can be administered to
treat this. If nausea is an ongoing problem then further changes can be made
to treat it.
Itchiness is a common complication of PCA. Often this is only mild, but it
can be treated with medication or altering the analgesic medication.
Modern anaesthesia is safe, efficient and usually associated with much less
discomfort and side-effects than used to be the case. The most important thing
to do is to follow your specialist’s orders and convey as much information to
your anaesthetist about yourself and any illnesses as you can.
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