Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU)

PACU Following Your Spine Surgery

After your surgery is completed, you will recover in the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU). The nurses will monitor your condition. You may notice a blood pressure cuff on your arm and a monitor on your finger. Everyone recovers with an oxygen tube positioned under the nose and over the ears - this may feel as if you are wearing glasses. The nurses help you stay warm and comfortable, so please tell them how you are feeling.

You may stay in the PACU for one or more hours, depending on how quickly you wake up and become comfortable. The nurses will monitor you and provide pain medication if you need it. Your family is notified when you are moved from surgery to the PACU, and your surgeon will visit with them to report on the surgery. When you are stable, you are transferred to your room on our Spine Unit (6th Floor, north wing) or to the orthopedic (10th Floor) or neurosurgical floors (9th Floor). Again, your family is informed.

If you are transferred to the Critical Care Unit (CCU) on the third floor, your surgeon will notify your family when he speaks with them.