Can you take Viagra after surgery? Ask your surgical team first: the Viagra label sets no waiting time after surgery, and neither do healthdirect's surgery pages, so when you can take it again depends on the operation, your recovery and the medicines you go home with. Three things decide it: no nitrate may be part of your care, your blood pressure has to be steady, and your heart has to be fit for sex. Tell the surgeon and the anaesthetist that you take it.
Is there a set waiting time after an operation?
No. The Australian Viagra label gives none, and healthdirect says recovery "depends on your age, health and the type of surgery", and to follow your surgeon's advice. Your doctor or surgeon should give you written information on what to expect during recovery, and healthdirect suggests asking whether you will need medicines after going home (healthdirect — Preparing for surgery). Ask then when sex, and Viagra, are fine again. After some operations there are things you cannot do for a while, such as driving or heavy lifting (healthdirect), and after a general anaesthetic you cannot drive yourself home (healthdirect — General anaesthetic).
Should the surgeon and anaesthetist know you take Viagra?
Yes. healthdirect asks you to tell your anaesthetist about your health, allergies and all your medicines, and to tell your doctor about every medicine you take, including ones bought without a prescription; some medicines are stopped before surgery, such as anti-inflammatories, diabetes medicines and blood thinners (healthdirect — General anaesthetic; Preparing for surgery). During the operation the anaesthetist monitors your heart rate and blood pressure, and sildenafil, the medicine in Viagra, lowers blood pressure a little: after a 100 mg dose, by 8.4 mmHg systolic on average (Viagra PI (Australia)). Say when you took the last tablet. Taking erectile dysfunction medicines in the days before an operation has its own page: can you take ED medicines before surgery?
Why do nitrates matter in hospital?
Because the combination is never allowed. The Australian label rules out nitrates "either regularly or intermittently", and its list includes glyceryl trinitrate as an injection, tablets, spray or patches, isosorbide and sodium nitroprusside (Viagra PI (Australia)). Together they may cause a severe drop in blood pressure that is hard to treat (Viagra CMI). No sildenafil label states a safe gap, so everyone treating you needs to know. For tadalafil (Cialis), the Australian label tells doctors that in a life-threatening emergency at least 48 hours should pass after the last dose before a nitrate is considered (Cialis PI (Australia)). Chest pain after Viagra means calling 000, never a nitrate spray. More: nitroglycerin and Viagra.
What if you go home on blood thinners?
Tell whoever prescribes Viagra. After some operations, such as a hip or knee replacement, blood thinners help stop clots while you heal, and some people keep injecting enoxaparin or dalteparin at home (healthdirect — Blood thinners). Sildenafil had no effect on bleeding time, including with aspirin, and no significant interaction with warfarin; the label has no safety information for people with bleeding disorders and asks for caution there (Viagra PI (Australia)). A nosebleed is on the leaflet's list of side effects to report (Viagra CMI). The details: Viagra and blood thinners.
Is low blood pressure after surgery a problem?
It can be. Sildenafil is not for blood pressure below 90/50 mmHg, where its safety was not studied (Viagra PI (Australia)), and the leaflet says not to take it when blood pressure is "unusually high or low" (Viagra CMI). Dizziness is a common after-effect of a general anaesthetic (healthdirect — General anaesthetic) and a side effect of Viagra; if it makes you dizzy, do not drive (Viagra CMI). If you leave hospital on a new blood-pressure medicine, check it first: Viagra with blood-pressure tablets, class by class.
What if the operation was on your heart?
Then the label's heart rules apply. Viagra is not taken within 6 months of a heart attack or stroke, or with heart or blood vessel problems that make sex inadvisable (Viagra CMI), and the doctor who prescribes it should check your heart first (Viagra PI (Australia)). After a stent: can you take Viagra after a heart stent?
What about prostate or hernia surgery?
They have their own pages, including when sex and tablets can start again: Viagra after prostate surgery or a biopsy, hernia surgery and erections and does Viagra raise PSA?
The short answer
Ask your surgical team first: no label sets a waiting time. Tell the surgeon and anaesthetist you take Viagra and when you last took it, never combine it with a nitrate, and check again if you go home on blood thinners or a new blood-pressure medicine. The other operations and their effect on erections are in our guide to erection problems after surgery.
