The impact of pain on patients’ daily living is shown in
Fig. 4.
Other symptoms
Nausea was troublesome one week after surgery for 29% of
the patients, but after three weeks, nausea/vomiting was no
longer a problem. During the first two weeks, 28% of the
respondents reported poor ability to concentrate, while
nobody reported this after four weeks. Difficulties in defecation
were reported by 29% of the respondents after one week
and 4% after four weeks.
Functional ability
All the patients coped preoperatively with their everyday
hygiene and restroom visits. This ability decreased one week
after surgery but had returned three weeks postoperatively. It
was found that the patients had great difficulties in walking
and carrying heavy objects and suffered from fatigue one and
two weeks postoperatively, at the same time, 59% reported
dyspnoea. After four weeks, 41% reported dyspnea, but
nobody reported finding it difficult to take a short walk. The
patients’ overall functional ability displayed a clear improvement
from one and two weeks to four weeks after surgery.
One-two weeks postoperatively, the functional ability disturbed
the relation to the family and other social contacts for
40% of the respondents, while after four weeks this was
reported by 4%. Difficulties in sleeping decreased from 59%
after one week to 18% four weeks postoperatively.
Overall health status
Patients’ overall self-rated health status and quality of life are
shown in Fig. 5. Fatigue was a dominant symptom and was
stated to be most troublesome after one week after which it