Removal of Anal Warts
A Patient's Guide to Home Care
This handout will tell you how to take care of yourself when you go home after the removal of anal warts. Your nurse will go over this handout with you. Please ask questions. If you have any once you're home, please call the numbers listed at the end of the handout.
Getting Ready for Surgery
- Make plans to be off work for about a week after surgery. Discuss this with your doctor.
- Do your household chores ahead of time or make plans for someone to help you with them.
- Plan activities that do not require you to stand or sit for more than an hour or to do any heavy lifting.
- For a few days, wear loose comfortable clothing.
You will need to “clean your bowels out” before your surgery. Go to a drugstore and get a bottle of Magnesium Citrate and 2 Fleets® phosphate enemas.
- The day before surgery, have a light lunch and a clear liquid dinner.
- After your clear liquid dinner, drink 5 ounces of the Magnesium Citrate.
- The morning of surgery, take the first Fleets® enema 1½ hours before leaving home. Take a second enema 1 hour before leaving home.
Rectal Care
- Take a sitz bath at least three to four times a day and after each bowel movement for a total of ________ days. A sitz bath is a plastic tub that you place in your toilet to soothe your rectal area. Pour warm water into the sitz bath before sitting on it. This will help healing and lessen pain and rectal spasms. If you prefer, you can sit in a tub of warm water instead of using the sitz bath. Sit in the water for 10-20 minutes.
- Avoid hard wiping of the anal area for the first few days.
- For the first few days, clean the anal area after a bowel movement by spraying it with warm water. We will send you home with a spray bottle. Baby wipes can be used to gently clean the rectal area also.
- You will have yellowish-red drainage from the rectum for at least 7 to 14 days. We will send pads home with you to place in your underpants. The drainage will decrease in amount and become lighter in color over time, although you may notice an increase in red drainage if you become more active.
Activities
- Plan for rest, but also move around the house as much as it feels comfortable for you to do so.
- You may drive after you stop taking narcotic pain pills.
- Sexual activity may be resumed ___________________________.
- Check with your doctor before returning to work. You may need to take more time off if your job involves heavy labor or sitting for long periods of time.
Pain Medicine
You will have some pain in the surgical area. Pain medicine will be prescribed for you if you need it. Do not drink alcohol, drive a car, or operate machinery while you are taking the pain pills.
To Avoid Constipation
- A stool softener may be ordered for you. A stool softener will help stool pass more easily. Do not try to avoid having a bowel movement, even if it is painful. Your colon removes fluid from your stool. The longer stool sits in your colon, the harder it becomes. It is better to pass the stool than to have it become a hard stool.
- To prevent straining and constipation, you should eat foods high in fiber and drink plenty of liquids. Good sources of food high in fiber are listed below.
Eat a well balanced diet each day.
- 6 to 8 (8-ounce) glasses of fluid a day (water, juice, tea, etc.)
- at least 4 servings of fruits or vegetables
- at least 4 servings of breads and cereals (2 of these servings should be whole grain).
| Food Groups | Food High In Fiber |
| Breads | Whole grain breads or crackers (whole wheat, dark rye, pumpernickel, oatmeal); breads or crackers with seeds; nut breads, bran muffins. |
| Cereals | Bran cereals (100% bran, concentrated bran); cereals with nuts, raisins, or seeds; "natural" cereals, granola, maltex, wheat, oatmeal, Ralston, shredded wheat. |
| Cereal Products/Flour | Wheat germ, wheat, whole wheat, buckwheat, bulgar, corn, cornmeal, rice, wild rice, brown rice, millet, and barley. |
| Fruits | Fresh or canned fruits, those with skin or seeds (apples, plums, peaches, tomatoes, berries); dried fruit. |
| Vegetables | Raw or cooked vegetables (not overcooked). |
When to Call the Doctor
- Large amounts of bright red blood from the rectal area that will not stop with pressure to the rectal area for 10 minutes
- Temperature greater than 100° F. Check your temperature once a day for one week
- Foul-smelling drainage from suture line, if you have one, around the anal area
- Breaking open of the suture line, if you have one
- Excess swelling in the rectal area
Digestive Health Center: (608) 890-5000.
After hours, weekends or holidays this number will be answered by the paging operator. Ask for the doctor on call or ask for Dr. Harms, Heise, Kennedy, or Foley. Leave your name and phone number with area code. The doctor will call you back.
If you live out of the area, call (855) 342-9900.
The information provided should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed physician should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. Call 911 for all medical emergencies. Any duplication or distribution of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited.
Last Updated: 04/24/2013
Copyright © 11/21/2012 University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority. All rights reserved. Produced by the Department of Nursing. HF#5772
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