What is the recovery like after a laparoscopic surgery for urinary incontinence?
Most women can go home within 23 hours of the surgery. Since the incisions are small, there is minimal pain, and you can be up and walk the next day of surgery. Since the supporting tissue for the bladder is involved during the surgery, a suprapubic urinary catheter (a tiny catheter put into the bladder suprapubically) is routinely used for draining the bladder for the first few days of surgery. The suprapubic catheter usually removed within the first 2-3 days after the laparoscopic Burch procedure and 5-6 days for laparoscopic suburethral sling procedure. You can be back to most normal activities within 7-10 days. However, as with all bladder operations, you will need to allow the sutures to heal and fibrosis (scarring) to firm up so that the repair work will hold. This healing process in our body takes about 3 months to complete, so no strenuous physical activities during that time.
