Once you have decided to have orthopaedic surgery some things may be required before surgery.
These things will depend on your age, health, and the type of surgery being performed. Many times a visit with your primary care physician will be recommended or required. This allows for a careful evaluation of potential conditions that could increase your risk of problems around the time of surgery. An example would be poorly controlled Diabetes that would lead to an increased risk of infection after surgery.
- Sometimes it is necessary to take vitamins or supplements prior to surgery. A common example is an iron supplement. This is done to help prepare the body to manufacture new blood or tissue following the blood loss and surgical trauma that goes along with all surgeries.
- If you have a history of cardiac disease then usually your cardiologist will need to indicate that your cardiac condition is optimized for the planned surgery.
- If you are having a joint replacement such as knee or hip replacement then you may need to see your dentist prior to surgery. This is because poor dental health can lead to infections in the mouth that can sometimes spread via the blood stream and cause an infection in the prosthetic joint replacement. If there are broken or poorly maintained teeth it is often recommended to have these extracted or repaired prior to undergoing joint replacement surgery.
- It is important not to eat or drink for 8 hours prior to scheduled surgery. At times you will be instructed to take certain medicines with a small sip of water on the day of surgery during the 8 hour period before surgery. This should only be done if instructed by one of your physicians and only with the smallest amount of water needed to allow you to swallow the pill.
- You will need someone to drive you home from any surgical procedure or hospitalization. Plan ahead for who will be able to do that for you.
