术后第二天（and higher)

English translation: the 3rd day of surgery or the 2nd day after surgery

00:24 Sep 9, 2020

Chinese to English translations [PRO]
Medical - Medical (general)

Chinese term or phrase: 术后第二天（and higher)

This is not a specific phrase I need to translate but rather a longstanding problem that sometimes crops up in medical translation, and I wish to consult my fellow professionals on how they understand and handle this.

My understanding is that the use of 后 in this context does not usually change the meaning in Chinese (whereas in English, the "day of" and the "day after" have different meanings).

e.g. 入院第一天 = 入院后第一天 for most speakers.

Assume that the day of surgery is Monday.

In Chinese, 术后第二天 most likely refers to Tuesday, not Wednesday (correct?)
Whereas, in English, Tuesday is "the [first] day after surgery", and Wednesday is thus the "second day after surgery".

This is already a serious problem, but what about 术后第20天? Are we to translate this as "day 19 after surgery"? I suspect very few do this. What are your thoughts?

Hamish Young KudoZ activity Questions: 3 (none open) Answers: 42 New Zealand
Local time: 16:30

English translation:the 3rd day of surgery or the 2nd day after surgery

Explanation:
中文的时间点和时间段的表达经常是很模糊的，有时病人对时间的理解就像各位翻译一样，会有偏差，搞错日期有时也是难免的。

然而，术后第二天的概念似乎在医务人员之间有了共识，那就是

Day 0：手术当天，Day 1，术后第一天， Day 2，术后第二天

术后第20天，就是the 21st day of surgery， or the 20th day after surgery

有很多例子：

全切双眼皮记录＋平衡减肥／术后恢复饮食(持续更新，为试试 ...zhuanlan.zhihu.com › ...
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Sep 3, 2018 - 全切双眼皮记录＋平衡减肥／术后恢复饮食(持续更新. 小砖头 ... Day 2- 2018.8.26(术后第一天) ... Day 8- 2018.9.2(术后第八天——拆线后第二天）.

LASEK 修补术后恢复VLOG (术后第二天）中文版(mandarin ...www.youtube.com › watch- Translate this page
Mar 27, 2017 - LASEK 修补术后恢复VLOG (术后第二天）中文版(mandarin version LASEK refinery surgery recovery vlog)，Day 2.

眼鼻部整形-总体系统-手术后一个月内的恢复管理日程表- 总体 ...cn.grandsurgery.com › 30days-of-re...
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Day 2 （手术后的第二天）. '去除包扎&对手术部位进行消毒'. 鼻子整形后，去除塞在鼻子内的棉花，接受了治疗消毒回家后用软膏抹在缝合位置会比较好。

Selected response from:

jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 00:30

Grading comment

4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

5 +1

second day after operation

Anastasia Andriani

5 +1

the 3rd day of surgery or the 2nd day after surgery

jyuan_us

on the day after surgery

Kiet Bach

5 -1

the day following the operation

Bruce Guo

Answers

54 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

second day after operation

Explanation:
术后第20天 means 20 days after operation.
you are right, 后 means after..
If the operation did on Monday，手术后第一天是周二 (Tuesday),术后第二天就是周三 (Wednesday)
this is my opinion

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Note added at 2 hrs (2020-09-09 03:05:16 GMT)
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三天之后是今天开始的第4天。例如：今天7月12日的三天之后是7月15日；从今天开始第一天是7月12日，第二天是7月13日，第三天是7月14日，第四天是7月15日。

https://zhidao.baidu.com/question/1115879781933926419.html

I hope this link more helpful @Hamish Young

Anastasia Andriani
Indonesia
Local time: 11:30
Native speaker of:

Indonesian

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thanks for response - I do feel that the meaning is the actually the first day after the operation, but lets see what the Chinese native speakers have to say

56 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): -1

术后第二天 the day following the operation

Explanation:
it has nothing to do with weekdays or weekends

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Note added at 1小时 (2020-09-09 01:26:45 GMT)
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术后第20天：the 20th day following the operation=the 19th day following the day of operation
(Note: the operation≠the day on which the operation is made)

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Note added at 5小时 (2020-09-09 05:25:20 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I first searched on Internet about this question and there is no definite answer, and then I confirmed with a doctor, he said it depends on how many hours remained on the day of operation, for instance:
if an operation is done at 8:300 a.m., then 术后第一天 is the day of operation;
if an operation is done at night (e.g. after 08:00 p.m.), the next day will be 术后第一天

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 5小时 (2020-09-09 05:29:26 GMT)
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if an operation is done very late at one day, 术后第二天 should be the 2nd day following the operation (the 3rd day counting from the day of operation), to avoid doubts, you better add a note to explain.

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Note added at 5小时 (2020-09-09 05:34:32 GMT)
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Or, you don't have to figure it out, simply use Postoperative Day 2 (or POD 2), if a patient has doubt about it, he/she will confirm with his/her doctor.
So I update my answer to "POD 2"
ref
http://dict.youdao.com/w/eng/术后第一天/

Bruce Guo
China
Local time: 07:30
Native speaker of:

Chinese,

English
PRO pts in category: 8

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thanks for response - your answer totally contradicts the previous responder! But do you not agree that if 术后第二天 is the [first] day following the operation, then 术后第20天 cannot be the 20th day following the operation?

Asker: Thanks again for your help on this. Interesting answer!

7 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

the 3rd day of surgery or the 2nd day after surgery

jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 00:30
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Chinese
PRO pts in category: 532

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thank you for the explanation, this is also very helpful. I would tend to avoid "the 3rd day of surgery" because it implies that the surgery itself has taken at least three days to perform

5 hrs confidence:

on the day after surgery

Explanation:
第二天 (the second day) also means "the next day", "the following day", or "the day after" in Chinese.

Most Chinese would comprehend 手术后第二天 as "on the day after surgery".

As to 手术后第20天, it is more confusing. I would say Chinese people could comprehend it both ways, either "on the 20th day after surgery", or "on the 19th day after surgery."

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Note added at 16 hrs (2020-09-09 17:03:44 GMT)
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第二天 example sentence:

我申请工作后第二天就被叫去上班。
I was called to go to work the next day after I applied for work.

Kiet Bach
United States
Local time: 21:30
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

Chinese
PRO pts in category: 56

Notes to answerer

Asker: thank you for this explanation

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术后第二天（and higher)

English translation: the 3rd day of surgery or the 2nd day after surgery

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术后第二天（and higher)