Be Prepared

Make Your Surgical Procedure and Follow-Up Care Safe

You can make surgical procedure and follow-up care as safe as possible. Here’s what you need to know.

• Bring a list of any questions you have about your surgery to your presurgical doctor’s visit. Also bring a list of all the prescription, over-the-counter and herbal medications you are currently taking or took until very recently. Review the list with your surgeon and ask if there are any you should stop taking before your procedure.
• Be sure your surgeon knows about any allergies you have to medications and foods.
• Ask your surgeon whether you can eat or drink before your procedure, and if so, what kinds of food or drink and within how many hours of your surgery.
• Ask your surgeon whether you should remove nail polish or temporary dental appliances (such as a bridge), if you can wear deodorant or body lotion, and if there are other preparations you need to make prior to surgery.
• Find out if you will need therapy after your surgery, who will arrange for it and whether you can have therapy at home.

• Shower or bathe and wash your hair. Don’t wear makeup or perfume. Be sure to follow any other pre-surgery instructions you were given.
• If you have an outstanding financial liability, please bring a form of payment that can be left with the person bringing you to the hospital. Otherwise, leave jewelry, money, credit cards and other valuables at home.
• Allow yourself plenty of time for travel.
• Once you arrive at the hospital, you will be given an Informed Consent form to sign. Read it carefully. Make sure everything on the form is correct. If you don’t understand something, ask questions before you sign the form.

Staff at the hospital should ask you the following questions more than once before your surgery:

• Your name.
• What kind of surgery you’re having.
• The part of your body that is being operated on.
• A health care professional will mark the spot on your body that is going to be operated on. Make sure he or she marks only the correct part. If he or she makes a mistake and has to make a new mark, be sure the old mark is completely cleaned off.
• If you won’t be awake for the marking, be sure your relative or friend watches the marking.
• Your surgical team will take a “time out” just before your procedure. 

This is done to make sure the team is doing the right surgery on the right body part of the right person.