Preparing for Surgery
A calmer surgery starts with a plan.
Get ready for a procedure with home prep tips, questions for your surgeon, and planning checklists.
Guides & articles
Questions to ask your surgeon about spinal surgery: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia
If you're having spinal surgery, it's important to ask your surgeon many questions to understand what will happen. You should ask how the surgery will help you, what the risks are, and if there are other options besides surgery. Also, find out what you need to do to prepare, like if you need to stop certain medicines or make changes to your home. Finally, ask about what to expect after surgery, such as how long recovery will take, how to manage pain, and if you'll need physical therapy.
Source: MedlinePlus (NLM)
Questions to ask your doctor before knee replacement: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia
Before getting a knee replacement, it's important to talk to your doctor about many things. You should ask if the surgery is right for you, what other options you have, and how much it will cost. Also, discuss how to prepare your body and home for recovery, what the surgery and hospital stay will be like, and what to expect when you go home. Don't forget to ask about any risks, what medicines to stop taking, and what to do the day of surgery.
Source: MedlinePlus (NLM)
Getting your home ready - knee or hip surgery: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia
Before having knee or hip surgery, it's important to prepare your home to make recovery easier. This means making sure everything you need is within reach, like food and personal items, and setting up your bed and bathroom to be safe and easy to use. You should also remove anything that could cause you to trip, like loose rugs or wires, and consider having someone help you for the first week or two after surgery. Practicing with walking aids like a cane or walker before surgery can also be very helpful.
Source: MedlinePlus (NLM)
getting ready.html
getting ready.html
Source: Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality
General Anesthesia for Surgeons - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf
General anesthesia makes you unconscious and unable to feel pain during surgery by using different types of medicines, including IV drugs, inhaled gases, sedatives, strong pain relievers, and muscle relaxers. Anesthesia teams, including doctors and nurses, work together to choose the best combination of these medicines for each patient, considering their health and the type of surgery. While generally safe, anesthesia can have side effects like confusion or nausea, and in rare cases, more serious problems can occur, especially in older or sicker patients. Before surgery, the anesthesia team will check your health to make sure you are as safe as possible for the procedure.
Source: National Library of Medicine
All About Anesthesia | National Institute of General Medical Sciences
Anesthesia is a medical treatment that stops you from feeling pain, and it has come a long way since it was first used. There are different kinds of anesthesia, from sedatives that just relax you to general anesthesia that makes you completely unconscious. These medicines work by blocking pain signals from reaching your brain, either by stopping nerves in a small area or by affecting how brain cells communicate. Scientists are still learning exactly how some anesthetics work and are trying to make them even better with fewer side effects.
Source: National Institutes of Health
Barriers and facilitators to deprescribing before surgery: A qualitative study of providers and older adults - PMC
It can be helpful for older adults to take fewer medications before surgery, a process called "deprescribing," to lower the risk of problems. However, doctors and patients face challenges like not having enough time to discuss medications, a lack of clear guidelines, and patients' worries about stopping their medicines. On the other hand, patients are often open to deprescribing if they trust their doctor and are concerned about medication side effects or costs. This study suggests that talking about medication changes before surgery could be a good time to make these decisions together.
Source: National Library of Medicine
Risks of interrupting drug treatment before surgery: The consequences may be as serious as those from drug errors - PMC
Stopping medicines suddenly before surgery can be very risky, sometimes as dangerous as making a mistake with medication. Many patients take regular medicines for other health problems, and stopping these can lead to serious issues like their illness getting worse or new problems popping up after surgery. Doctors and hospitals need to be more careful about how they manage patients' medicines around surgery, and drug companies should provide better information on how to handle these situations. More research is needed to understand these risks better and find ways to keep patients safe.
Source: National Library of Medicine
Nurse-Led Preoperative Education for Elective Surgery: Patient Satisfaction and Recall in a Mixed-Method Study - PMC
This study looked at how happy patients were with the information nurses gave them before elective surgeries and how much of that information they remembered. The researchers found that most patients were satisfied with the education and remembered a good amount of it. They also learned that things like age and education level affected how much patients remembered and how satisfied they were. The study suggests that giving patients more follow-up information after surgery could help them remember even better and follow their care instructions.
Source: National Library of Medicine
Role of Preoperative Information and Education of Patients Undergoing Total Hip Arthroplasty: A Narrative Review of the Literature - PMC
Before getting a total hip replacement, it's important for patients to receive clear information and education about the surgery. This includes details about the operation itself, how to prepare, managing pain afterward, and what to expect during recovery. While it seems like this education should help patients feel less anxious, have less pain, and recover faster, studies haven't always shown a clear benefit. More research is needed to fully understand how much this information truly helps patients having hip surgery.
Source: National Library of Medicine