How painful is a mastectomy?
During the mastectomy, the patient is under general anesthesia. Thus, no pain is felt during the operation. Also during the further course of the hospital stay, care is taken to ensure an adequate supply of painkillers.
Whether or not pain does occur and how severe it is, depends primarily on the individual’s perception of pain and the radical nature of the procedure. Usually, light to moderate wound pain occurs, but this can be easily controlled with common painkillers (e.g. morphine, Novalgin, Ibuprofen).