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What to do if…
you have new abdominal bloating and vomiting after recent surgery

Produced and maintained by PanicStation.org Published: Last reviewed: Editorial policy UK guide

Short answer

New abdominal bloating or swelling with vomiting after recent abdominal surgery needs urgent medical advice. Contact your surgical ward, surgical assessment unit, or on-call surgical team now; go to A&E if you are getting worse or cannot get timely advice, and call 999 if you have life-threatening symptoms or cannot travel safely.

Do not do these things

  • Do not wait overnight to “see if it settles” if the bloating or vomiting is new, persistent, or worsening.
  • Do not keep eating while you are vomiting or your abdomen is becoming more swollen.
  • Do not take laxatives, enemas, extra anti-sickness medicine, “wind” remedies, or extra painkillers unless your discharge instructions or a clinician tells you to.
  • Do not drive yourself to hospital if you feel faint, weak, drowsy, confused, in severe pain, or are actively vomiting.
  • Do not ignore chest pain, severe breathing difficulty, fainting, or feeling seriously unwell.

What to do now

  1. Stop eating for now. If your mouth is dry, take tiny sips of water only, and stop if this brings on more vomiting.
  2. Check your discharge paperwork for the number for your ward, surgical assessment unit, or on-call surgical team. Also check the “when to seek urgent help” section.
  3. Call the surgical contact number on your discharge letter. Say: “I had recent abdominal surgery and now have new abdominal bloating or distension with vomiting.”
  4. If you cannot reach the surgical team quickly, use NHS 111 where available, or your local urgent care service, unless you already feel too unwell to wait. They may direct you to A&E, a callback, or another urgent service.
  5. Go to A&E now if the vomiting or swelling is worsening, you cannot keep fluids down, your tummy is hard or very painful, you have fever or chills, you have not passed wind or stool and feel increasingly bloated, or you cannot get timely surgical or urgent care advice.
  6. Call 999 now if you have chest pain, severe difficulty breathing, collapse, new confusion, blue or grey lips, severe weakness, vomiting blood or material like coffee grounds, black tarry stools, or you feel seriously unwell and unsafe to travel by car.
  7. Put these ready to take with you: your discharge letter, operation paperwork, all medicines or photos of the labels, allergy details, your temperature if you have checked it, and a phone charger.
  8. If you have a stoma, note whether the output has stopped, suddenly increased, become very watery, or changed a lot. Bring spare stoma supplies.
  9. While waiting for help, write down when vomiting started, how often it has happened, whether it is green or bloody, when you last passed wind or stool, your pain level, your temperature, and when you last passed urine.

What can wait

  • You do not need to work out whether this is ileus, obstruction, infection, trapped wind, medication effects, or something else.
  • You do not need to decide about diet changes, laxatives, home remedies, or restarting normal food now.
  • You do not need to decide whether anyone made a mistake.
  • You do not need to gather every detail before calling; the urgent symptom combination is enough.

Important reassurance

This symptom combination is frightening, but asking for urgent help is a reasonable safety-first step. Surgical teams and urgent care services are used to assessing people after discharge, and it is better to be checked promptly than to try to manage worsening vomiting and swelling at home.

Scope note

These are first steps only to keep you safer and get you assessed. What happens next depends on the operation you had, how long ago it was, your examination, and any tests, so later decisions may need surgical or other specialist help.

Important note

This guide is general information only. It is not medical, legal, financial, therapeutic, or other professional advice, and it cannot diagnose the cause of your symptoms. If you feel you are deteriorating or cannot get prompt advice, seek emergency care.

Additional Resources

Closely connected guides that may be useful during the same situation or its immediate aftermath.

About this guide

This guide was produced and is maintained by PanicStation.org using its published editorial process. Official and specialist sources are checked where relevant, and AI-assisted tools may be used for drafting, organisation, and consistency checks. The site operator remains responsible for publication, revision, and removal decisions.

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