On Way To Surgery... Please Pray For Me!

[BenisaMartim4 369]

I had my sleeve on 2/14, but I had knee surgery on Friday and this happened to me. It is aweful! I have it in my neck, chest, shoulders & upper arms and groins. This might be what you have too:

"postoperative myalgia - is a fairly common, quite distressing, but rather interesting condition. It usually appears on the first day after surgery, is often described as feeling similar to the pain one might suffer after unaccustomed physical exercise, and is usually located in the neck, shoulder and upper abdominal muscles. There are a few theories about the cause of postoperative myalgia, but it is usually attributed to the use of a muscle relaxant drug called succinylcholine. Hence this is sometimes referred to as "scoline pain".

Although the problem of postoperative myalgia has been recognized for many years, the exact way in which succinylcholine causes this muscle pain is not fully understood. Most believe that it is due to uncoordinated contraction of muscles that occurs a few seconds before the muscle relaxation that is the desired effect of the drug.

It is also not clear how best to prevent scoline pain, short of avoiding the use of this drug altogether. It is natural to ask then why we continue to use this medication, and the reason is that succinylcholine, despite a few significant side-effects, is a very reliable and quick-acting muscle relaxant that helps the anesthesiologist "secure" the airway (place a breathing tube).

Myalgia from succinylcholine is most common in young female patients, especially those undergoing ambulatory surgery (going home the same day as the surgery). The incidence of myalgia with succinylcholine ranges widely - in some reports it's as low as 1.5% but can be as high as 80 - 90%. To add to the mystery, some patients experience myalgia even when they are not given succinylcholine at all!

Naturally you would like to avoid this very unpleasant experience at your forthcoming surgery. The good news is that there are other muscle relaxant drugs than can almost always be used instead of succinylcholine. This will not guarantee that you do not have the myalgia again but probably makes it much less likely.

If the use of succinylcholine cannot be avoided, (this is rare), there are methods for decreasing the incidence and severity of the muscle pain, such as giving a very small dose of another muscle relaxant before the succinylcholine, or by giving a local anesthetic medication called lidocaine.

Typically the pain lasts 2 or 3 days and it can be quite severe, as you've described. Fortunately it does go away without specific treatment. Standard pain medicines, such as acetaminophen can be prescribed."

Hope you feel better soon

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