How to Avoid Having Your Surgery Rescheduled

In addition to the responsibilities of your surgeon, anesthesiologist, and the nursing staff, surgery involves certain obligations on the part of the patient to ensure a safe and uncomplicated experience. The following is a list of three guidelines before surgery that must be followed prior to your operation. While all may not apply to each patient, the pertinent ones will be confirmed by the nursing staff when you check in for surgery.  If these are not followed, surgery will need to be rescheduled for your medical safety.

1. Nothing to eat or drink eight (8) hours prior to surgery

This is the most important criteria before surgery. It is a potential life and death issue. Food or even liquids in the stomach can be potentially vomited while being put to sleep, entering the lungs and causing a severe pneumonia or even death. For this reason, surgery is never performed without one having an empty stomach even if it is only a conscious sedation. This means even a few sips of coffee!

2. You will need to be taken home by someone after surgery

Unless you are having a procedure done under local anesthetic injections, the use of IV medication for sedation or general anesthesia requires that you be taken home by a responsible adult after surgery. It is simply not safe for you to drive home after an anesthetic. There are no exceptions. Taking a taxi home is also not permitted.

3. If you are from out of town and staying in a hotel, someone will need to stay with you the night after surgery

It is not medically safe for you to be alone in a hotel room after any surgery that required you to have a general or conscious sedation anesthetic. If you do not have someone, we can help make arrangements to stay overnight in the surgery center or for a caretaker to stay with you in the hotel or at your house. These arrangements will need to be made in advance.

Surgery with Dr. Bonheur

Dr. Bonheur and his staff treat each patient with a high amount of attentiveness and care. Our team works hard to ensure that each patient remains safe and comfortable throughout their visit and procedure. As a premier minimally invasive surgeon, Dr. Bonheur performs a wide range of sophisticated procedures and is considered a leading minimally invasive surgical specialist because of his ability to create results that appear natural.