About Curtis J. Edwards, MD, FACS Expertise Can answer general and vascular surgery questions, trauma, burns, some plastic surgery questions, general gastrointestinal surgery and gastrointestinal medical questions and questions regarding aviation medicine.
Experience Board certified general surgeon. Seventeen years practice experience in general, vascular, and no-cardiac thoracic surgery and endoscopy.
Organizations College of Surgeons, AMA, Aerospace Medical Assoc., Civil Aviation Medical Assoc.
Education/Credentials BA, MD, American Board of Surgery, Fellow American College of Surgeons, seventeen years practice all phases, including teaching.
Question In 1,5 weeks I will be having surgery for ingual hernia. This was diagnosed
with palpatations and ultrasound – is that the normal procedure?
I am worried about medications after the operation. Are anitbiotics routinely
given? What pain medications would you suggest for somone who is allergic
or has bad reactions to very many medications? I become very ill with
coedine, penicillin, and voltaren. Thank you for your help.
Answer It sounds like your inguinal hernia was diagnosed the usual way. If a mesh graft is to be used for the repair most surgeons favor the use of a single dose of antibiotic. There are antibiotics that will not cause problems for patients who are penicillin allergic. I would discuss your concerns with your surgeon relative to pain medication and allergy. In my experience, a long acting local anesthetic in combination with Tylenol and one or the other of the non-codeine pain killers works quite well. Surgical incisions are always painful, however.
