Diving after surgery?

[bryanmc57]

I recently had a parathyroidectomy (4/10/08). There were no complications and the incision is healing well. It's still a little swolen But I'm told that's to be expected. What would be a reasonable amount of time to wait before resuming diving? Are there any things I need to be careful of and for how long roughly?

Thanks....
Bryan

PS. I'm not looking for medical advice, just opinions from those who have had similar experiences or general, non binding info from medical types.

 

[keytofreedom]

I had a similar question about diving after upcoming back surgery. Sent an email to DAN and had an answer before the day was over. (DAN Divers Alert Network - Scuba Diving and Dive Safety Association)

They advised me to dive more conservatively for a period of time. No deep dives, longer surface intervals, fewer dives per day, that kind of thing. Apparently there has been some correlation between my particular surgery and DCI, although DAN stressed to me there is no supporting data for that opinion.

 

[Double "D"]

if you have not received a response from DAN yet- i guess it would depend on a few things. Was your procedure open or laparoscopic? Recovery time for the latter is much quicker. Are/were you on any blood thinners? The biggest thing I would look out for is swelling/edema in the area which could compromise your airway. Also, I would also make sure that the incision healed well before you dove-not a great place to get an infection in. Hope it helps...didn't give any real advice though.

 

[bryanmc57]

Still waiting for an answer from DAN. I sent it to them over the weekend so I expect to hear from them in the next couple of days. There were no blood thinners and the incision (from what I can tell) is healed nicely. There's still a little swelling in the area but I'm told that's to be expected. It wasn't laproscopic. It will be 4 weeks this Thursday (5/8).

 

[DocVikingo]

Hi Bryan,

This response is based on the assumption that the parathyroidectomy was not performed due to cancer, another more generalized pathological condition of the parathyroid/thyroid glands, or some other complicating disease process.

Once the doctor releases the diver for full physical activity, including scuba, and the diver feels up to it, he should be good to go.

Given a bit of non-worrisome swelling (edema) at the incision site, the diver will want to be sure that any thermal protection or other SCUBA gear does not cause undue discomfort.

Of course the patient will need initial monitoring to make sure that calcium levels in the blood remain within normal limits. However, hypocalcemia usually is not an issue and calcium supplementation is nearly always an option.

Helpful?

Regards,

DocVikingo

This is educational only and does not constitute or imply a doctor-patient relationship. It is not medical advice to you or any other individual, and should not be construed as such.

 

[bryanmc57]

Thanks Doc... Very helpfull. The gland was biopsied and was non cancerous, just out of wack. My hormone level was back to normal by the second day after the surgery. I just wanted to be sure there wouldn't be any pressure related problems with the incision.

Thanks again

Bryan