Stop eating solid food and milk 6 hours before your hospital admission time. This includes avoiding milk
in coffee and tea, and alcohol
Fasting reduces the risk of regurgitating stomach contents which, if it occurs, may lead to damage to the
lungs by stomach acid
If these instructions are not followed your surgery will be deferred to another time/date
You may continue drinking small sips of clear fluids (including water, clear juice, black tea or coffee) up until 2 hours before your hospital admission
Tablets can be taken at any time before your operation with small sips of water.
YOUR MEDICATION
Apart from diabetic medications and blood thinners, you should take all your normal medications on the day of surgery
with a sip of water. These include blood pressure medications, pain killers, heart medications and puffers
If you are unsure about whether to continue or stop any medication please contact us
Depending on your procedure and reason for taking blood thinners they may need to be ceased a few days prior to surgery
Your surgeon may advise you, otherwise please contact your anaesthetist for instructions
Diabetes
Do not take any oral (tablet) diabetic medications on the day of your operation
If you normally take insulin you will require a reduced dose on the morning of your operation. Please contact your anaesthetist to discuss your insulin regime.
IMPORTANT: if you are taking a diabetes medication that has a generic name ending in -ozin eg. dapaglifolozin, empagliflozin, canagliflozin, ertugliflozin, these medications need to be stopped 3 days prior to moderate/major surgery (usually any surgery that requires overnight admission). Common trade names include jardiance, forxiga, xigduo, glyxambi. Please contact your anaesthetist to discuss further.
SMOKING
Smoking increases the risks during an anaesthetic and recovery
Smoking may also increase your risk of surgical complications eg. Infection, delayed/poor wound healing
You are advised to stop smoking 6 weeks prior to your procedure
At the very minimum smoking should be avoided 48 hrs prior
Nicotine replacement options can be organized via your GP or are available from your Chemist.
GOING HOME
The best part is that most people now go home on the day of surgery.
If you are having ‘day surgery’ make sure there is someone to accompany you home.
