Fever after surgery

amother

Thu, Aug 22 2019, 12:41 pm

I’m very worried. My child had surgery today and now he is running a fever. On iv antibiotics.
Yesterday no fever and different iv antibiotics.
I’ve got no answer from drs.
Why is it happening?
Have u been through this?

ectomorph

Thu, Aug 22 2019, 12:43 pm

No, but you need to learn to fight for your child in the hospital. Don't worry about being an annoying parent.

Ask lots of questions. Call the nurse and ask the doctor to come until you feel satisfied that things are okay

ShishKabob

Thu, Aug 22 2019, 12:45 pm

ectomorph wrote:

This, every single bit of it.
You must be your child's fiercest advocate.
And don't allow yourself to get pushed around, get the patient advocate to help you out as well.

amother

Lavender

Thu, Aug 22 2019, 1:17 pm

Did they check the incision site to make sure it's not infected? How high is the fever? Fever after surgery is a cause for concern, please keep nagging the doctors and nurses about it.

amother

Green

Thu, Aug 22 2019, 1:23 pm

I know after some surgeries a low fever is normal. A high fever is very concerning.

If a low fever keep calling dr to find out.
If high fever call a different dr or go to emergency room.

amother

Thu, Aug 22 2019, 1:41 pm

101 under the arm.
He got labs and cultures done. Yesterday: wbc was high, cultures didn’t come back yet.
Yes, I told dr that yesterday’s antibiotics seemed to work better.
Incision was done to remove pus. They checked and it’s not infected.

amother

Apricot

Thu, Aug 22 2019, 1:41 pm

here are some hugs because I’m very familiar with the ‘unexplained fever’ and “we won’t do anything different” talk from big big doctors...
Hope it all turns out well.

Last edited by amother on Sat, Feb 19 2022, 9:11 pm; edited 1 time in total

amother

Apricot

Thu, Aug 22 2019, 1:47 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

101 under the arm.
She got labs and cultures done. Yesterday: wbc was high, cultures didn’t come back yet.
Yes, I told dr that yesterday’s antibiotics seemed to work better.
Incision was done to remove pus. They checked and it’s not infected.

Is ID involved? Which abx was she on & what is she on now?
they usually start out with a broad spectrum abx and once they see which bacteria is involved narrow down to an abx sensitive to that bug. Can you ask if there’s a/t else they can treat with that’s the same class she is on now to see if there’s a better response?
Another thought is that she may have picked up a virus in the hospital...
Refuah sheleima

Last edited by amother on Sat, Feb 19 2022, 9:11 pm; edited 1 time in total

amother

Thu, Aug 22 2019, 1:48 pm

Dr come in and she seemed concerned. But since he just got a dose of antibiotics and Motrin, for now we have to wait. Dr did ask me if I thought that yesterday’s antibiotic worked better, so that is good that they are listening to me.

amother

Thu, Aug 22 2019, 2:13 pm

gamzehyaavor wrote:

What is ID?
Till yesterday, he was on oral bactrim ( which might have started to work?)
Yesterday He got vancomycin and clyndamycin, that worked great.
Today they only gave clyndamycin.
According to dr , both meds cover the same type of bacteria. But I did speak about vancomycin.
And they did say that sometimes fever could happen after surgery.
He was perfectly fine before and right after surgery. Fever come for the past 2 or 3 hours.

amother

Thu, Aug 22 2019, 2:27 pm

Thank you everyone for trying to help out.
Today in the morning/ right after surgery everything sounded great. Now this came up... hope for a refusal sheleima and he should be back to his yummy self fast!

amother

Apricot

Thu, Aug 22 2019, 2:37 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

ID is infectious Disease doctor.
Vancomycin is a very strong antibiotic. They usually start treating with it and then narrow down to a more bacteria specific drug.
If it’s a Mrsa infection that very often gets treated with Clindamycin.
If the fever persists then perhaps ask for another dose of Vanco.

Last edited by amother on Sat, Feb 19 2022, 9:13 pm; edited 1 time in total

dankbar

Fri, Aug 23 2019, 12:49 am

Vancomycin is a very strong antibiotic.
Bactrim treats mrsa. Clyndamycin can work for both mrsa & reg infection.

Usuall after surgery, fever us checked for any infection.
Could the fever be coming as an adverse reaction to one of the meds?

FranticFrummie

Fri, Aug 23 2019, 11:27 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Incision was done to remove pus. They checked and it’s not infected.

These two sentences are directly contradictory! The infection is causing the pus. They are totally connected.

You must take this very seriously, and don't let them just tell you everything is OK.

Hospitals are incredibly germy places, believe it or not. IYH they will find the strain of bacteria, and find the right antibiotic for it. Once that's sorted, things should be much better in 3 or 4 days at the most. Give it time to work, as long as there is steady improvement. Keep an eagle eye on that incision. The tiniest bit of redness or warmth at the site is a huge red flag.

Refuah sheleimah to the little guy. I hope you all have a restful Shabbos, and that you have good news for us soon. Hug

amother

Apricot

Fri, Aug 23 2019, 11:32 am

FranticFrummie wrote:

I gather it to mean that the actual incision did not become infected. That they drained the pus from the infection and that’s apparently not the source of new fever. Op, is that what you meant?

Last edited by amother on Sun, Aug 25 2019, 12:44 am; edited 1 time in total