Outpatient Surgery
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Outpatient surgery (when you return home within 23 hours after surgery) saves you time and money and minimizes the disturbance to your home life and employment.
Depending on the type of outpatient surgery and where you live, our surgery coordinator will tell you what your pre-admission appointment entails and when you need to arrive. It is important for you to bring to the hospital all the surgery paperwork that you have received from our office.
Typically on the day of your outpatient surgery, you will go to the hospital relatively early, have your operation in the morning, recover during the day, and be able to go home in the afternoon or at night.
Most patients do very well with outpatient procedures and are able to get up, take oral pain medicines, and be discharged home, hopefully to a community within an hour’s radius of the hospital. If you live further away, staying overnight in a local motel works well. You will be discharged home, with pain medications and instructions regarding wound care. Afterwards you will have routine follow-up visits.
What to do before outpatient surgery
- Before the day of your operation, do not eat or drink anything, not even water, eight hours prior to your surgery. Your surgery may need to be cancelled if you eat or drink after this time.
- Please do not smoke or chew gum after midnight the night before surgery or after arriving at the hospital.
- You may take routine medications after midnight with a sip of water. Do not take any blood thinners (i.e., ASPIRIN, COUMADIN) or anti-inflammatory agents, such as MOTRIN. ASPIRIN and COUMADIN must be stopped at least 5 to 7 days prior to surgery.
- Notify the doctor of any changes in your physical condition (cold, fever, etc.).
- Take a bath or shower the night before your surgery and use
the provided medicinal soap to clean the surgical area.
- Do not wear contact lenses, makeup, earrings, or other jewelry.
- Get a good night’s rest before your surgery.
- Wear comfortable loose clothing and flat-heeled shoes.
- Arrange for a responsible adult to drive you home about 2 to 3 hours after your surgery. You and this adult will be given postoperative instructions before you are discharged. You will not be allowed to leave the hospital alone after surgery.
- Arrive at the hospital at the appointed time, at least 1 and 1/2 hours before your surgery.
- Please do not bring valuables to the hospital with you.The hospital cannot be responsible for these items.
- If you wear dentures, they may be removed in the preoperative room and returned to you after surgery.
- A child may bring a favorite doll, toy, or blanket.
- During your surgery, your family should wait nearby in the waiting area where your doctor will come to speak with them after surgery.
After leaving the hospital
For your safety, do not drink alcoholic beverages, drive a car, or operate any kind of machinery for 24 hours after your surgery. We also suggest that you do not make important decisions during this time. More specific instructions will be given to you by the doctor and the recovery nurses.
Resume your regular medications, including blood thinners and ASPIRIN, following surgery. You will most likely receive several bills for your outpatient surgery: from the anesthesiologist, the pathologist, the radiologist, the hospital itself, the surgeon, and the assistant surgeon.
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