Your doctor will provide ongoing management of your Enterra™ Therapy.

Recovery

During your recovery, follow your doctor's advice. Avoid heavy lifting or activities that involve excessive or repetitive bending, twisting, bouncing, or stretching. These movements could damage or displace your leads or affect the neurostimulator's ability to provide stimulation.

You should not feel the stimulation. Call your doctor if symptoms return or if you have new or unusual abdominal pain, cramping, nausea, or vomiting, as these symptoms may indicate a problem with your implanted system.

It is normal to have some pain at the site for 2 to 6 weeks after the surgery. Your doctor will help you manage any pain if it becomes severe.

Check-ups and Monitoring

To maintain the most effective control of your symptoms, your doctor usually can adjust neurostimulator settings during an outpatient programming session.

Your doctor will schedule follow-up visits to monitor your progress. A typical follow-up schedule may include office visits at 1, 3, and 6 months after the surgery; and as needed after that. Be sure to keep these follow-up appointments since they provide opportunities for therapy assessment and system adjustments if necessary.

Tell your doctor if your address changes. If you change doctors, be sure to have your medical history sent to the new doctor. Always carry your device registration card with you and make a copy of the card for each of your health care providers (doctors, dentists, physical therapists, nurse practitioners, etc.). Ask for a replacement card if necessary.

Tips for Managing Your Condition

Often a combination of treatments is necessary to control symptoms of gastroparesis. Your gastroenterologist, endocrinologist, or primary care doctor will provide ongoing management of your condition and will prescribe any additional therapies you may need.

You should receive a list of recommended diet and nutrition tips. Also, be sure to strictly follow any specialised diet your doctor has recommended for you.

You will receive a patient manual and temporary registration card that come in the neurostimulator package before you leave the hospital. Please read the manual and carry the registration card with you.

What to Expect

Gastric electrical stimulation is intended to reduce symptoms of chronic, drug-refractory nausea and vomiting associated with gastroparesis of idiopathic or diabetic origin.

However, gastric electrical stimulation is not a cure. Although not all patients will benefit from gastric electrical stimulation, for those that do, the rate of improvement will vary from person to person. Effectiveness of the Enterra™ neurostimulator for this use has not been demonstrated.

When to Call Your Doctor

Always contact your doctor with questions you have about your therapy, medications, physical activity, recommended diet, follow-up visits, and other concerns.

Call your doctor if you are not experiencing the same symptoms of relief from the therapy you experienced previously. If you have a flare-up of symptoms, do not be alarmed and call your doctor if:

• You are not receiving adequate therapy for your symptoms. Your neurostimulator may simply need readjustment to a different setting, or there may be a problem with one of the leads or the neurostimulator. Your doctor should be able to determine the cause of the problem and correct it.
• You experience any uncomfortable pulsating or stimulation sensations in your abdominal area.
• You have new or unusual abdominal pain, cramping, nausea or vomiting at any time after surgery.
• You have pain, redness, or swelling at the incision later than 6 weeks after surgery.
• You experience any other unusual symptoms.
• You are considering other dental or medical procedures.

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