We all read about different types of pre-op diets and some who have had to do them, some who haven't. Most of us have also read or been told that the purpose of the pre-op diet is to shrink the liver to make surgery easier. So...how effective is that overall? Does the pre-op make a difference in post-op pain and recovery times? If so, how much?

I did a pre-op of Optifast and steamed veges, with the occasional substitution of a very lean meat dinner with veges, but still sticking to the high Protein, low carb, low fat rules. I am now 5 days post-op and my recovery has been fantastic - very little pain post op, mostly around the actual incisions, a little gas pain but not unbearable and I'm feeling just about fully recovered today.

What were your experiences?

The idea of a pre op diet is not so that you recover faster, it doesn't make a difference in that aspect. The issue is the danger involved. If your liver is too slippery and difficult to manage you stand a much greater chance of liver lacerations and damage. But the pre op diet doesn't have a thing in the world to do with how you recover. It makes the surgery much easier for your surgeon which means it is safer for you.

I figured safer surgery, less slippery difficult to hold liver and fewer lacerations and damage would automatically translate into a faster recovery with less pain. It seems logical that reducing all those things would reduce internal bruising and swelling, thus reducing pain.

If the liver was that large and slippery, the doc would not likely complete the surgery so it would be a non issue. It's not a matter of fewer lacerations, it's a matter no lacerations in the liver.

The bruising and pain comes from the gas they use to blow up your belly so they can see what they are doing. That's what pushes and pulls on things as well as irritating the nerve that causes shoulder pain.

My surgeon explained that any time we reduce what we eat or diet to lose weight the first place that the fat leaves the body is around the liver. There are different ideas about what kind of diet to follow whether it be low calorie, low fat, low carb, we are reducing what we eat thus reducing the fat around our liver.

Since the liver is in front of the stomach, they move it out of the way and prop it up on a u-shaped stand that is shaped something like a two-pronged fork. A fatty liver will sag around this stand and could become bruised or damaged or get in the way of doing the surgery properly. The idea is for it to be firm and stay on the stand to avoid injury. I agree with wasabubblebut (BTW, love your user name:biggrin2:)the pre-op diet has less to do with recovery whereas the post-op if not followed correctly could really cause healing problems.