Is It Common to Experience Stomach Numbness After a C-Section, and How Long Does It Last?

Family Medicine, Primary Care Roots Community Health Center, Hippo Education, Kameda Medical Center

Supervised by Kenji Taylor, MD

Stomach numbness after a C-section is not very common and usually goes away within a few hours to a day. If numbness lasts longer, it may warrant a discussion with your doctor.

Explanation

After a C-section, many women have numbness in the lower belly because of the anesthesia used during the operation. This numbness is often expected and helps block pain during and right after surgery. The anesthesia, whether given through a spinal, epidural, or a nerve block like the TAP block, can lead to feelings of numbness in the area around the surgery, including parts of the stomach. In most cases, this numbness wears off in a few hours up to one day when the medicine loses its effect. There is also a report of a rare complication with a TAP block where the numbness was more noticeable, but this is not common. Studies of pain after C-sections show that while some discomfort from anesthesia is normal, lasting numbness is not typical. If you experience numbness that continues for days or worries you, it is best to talk with your doctor to make sure everything is healing as it should.

(References)

Fassoulaki A, Staikou C, Tsaroucha A, Micha G, Paraskeva A. Acute and Chronic Pain after Cesarean Delivery under Subarachnoid Anaesthesia. Is Postoperative Analgesia Adequate? A Cohort Observational Study. Maedica (Bucur). 2021 Mar;16(1):41-47. doi: 10.26574/maedica.2020.16.1.41. PMID: 34221155; PMCID: PMC8224706.
Hussen I, Worku M, Geleta D, Mahamed AA, Abebe M, Molla W, Wudneh A, Temesgen T, Figa Z, Tadesse M. Post-operative pain and associated factors after cesarean section at Hawassa University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Hawassa, Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study. Ann Med Surg (Lond). 2022 Aug 9;81:104321. doi: 10.1016/j.amsu.2022.104321. PMID: 36147153; PMCID: PMC9486444.
Salaria ON, Kannan M, Kerner B, Goldman H. A Rare Complication of a TAP Block Performed after Caesarean Delivery. Case Rep Anesthesiol. 2017;2017:1072576. doi: 10.1155/2017/1072576. Epub 2017 Oct 29. PMID: 29214081; PMCID: PMC5682055.

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