The recovery room/ timings of surgery

The next thing you know, you will be waking up feeling very drowsy and tired. You will probably be in what is called the ‘recovery room’, which is where they keep you until you are fully awake before sending you back to your room/ward. The nurses will keep a very close eye on you hear whilst getting on with their other jobs! At this point you should be focussing on relaxing. If you feel like you’re going back to sleep, don’t fight it.

Here are some timings to try and make a little more sense of it for you.

Time spent travelling to theatre and being put asleep = no more than 10 minutes

Time spent under general anaesthetic (during which time the surgery takes place) = around 40-45 minutes. I have been told that the surgery itself takes only around 20 minutes to perform.

Time waking up in the recovery room = I guess around 20-30 minutes.

Then back to the ward! All done.