Know Before Undergoing Surgery

As a patient, what are the things you should know before undergoing surgery or medical intervention?

1. Know the disease (what you are suffering from?)

It is very important to know the disease you are suffering from. Discuss with the surgeon or physician about the nature of the disease, complications it can cause. Also ask the natural history of the disease. Do not hesitate to clear your doubts from the treating physician or Surgeon. Also, do not start self-medication, prognostication; it may harm you and complicate the disease course.

2. Know the planned procedure / surgery

If the disease you are suffering needs surgery or interventional procedures as a treatment modality, ask the physician about the surgical procedure planned. what is the expected risk and benefit from the procedure. 

3. Know whether any alternative surgical / procedure is there

There may be some alternative management or surgical procedure itself for the surgery/intervention planned; for example, open cholecystectomy can also be done in laparoscopic way, open ureterolithotomy can be done as URSL (Ureteroscopic lithotripsy, a minimally invasive procedure etc). However, alternative procedures may not be always suitable for you. So, it is very important to discuss details with the treating physician / surgeon. 

4. Know the surgeon who is going to perform the surgery

In surgery, skill and experience is very important. So, you should know your surgeon well. Mere presence of an educational qualification does not guarantee the skill in surgeons. So, you should inquire about the skills. It is better done by knowing the outcomes of the previous surgeries performed from the patients. Anaesthesiologist is the person who knows the surgeon best with context to skill and outcome. You can also approach the anaesthesiologist who knows him, but not the one who are involved in joint venture / practice with the surgeon. Then the opinion may be biased. Staff nurses of the operating theater can also provide you the information to some extent.

5. Know the physician (Anaesthesiologist) who is going to take care of you  immediately before, during and after the surgery

During the surgery (intraoperative) and after the surgery (postoperative) period, anaesthesiologist needs to take care of your health and even life. Therefore, knowledge and skill of the anaesthesiologist is also important. While anaesthesiologists needs to perform sophisticated interventions for advanced surgeries, most of the surgeries require minimal intervention from anaesthesiologist except routine and standard monitoring, regional anaesthesia, general anaesthesia with or without putting an air pipe inside your trachea. Therefore, knowledge is very important for anaesthesiologist. You should always inquire whether a qualified anaesthesiologist will be available during the surgery or not. Remember, if any untowards happen which can endanger your life, anaesthesiologist is the person who plays the major role to save your life. 

Always consult an anaesthesiologist before planning to undergo an elective surgery. He/She will throughly evaluate you, will assess the risk and benefit of anaesthesia in context to the surgery planned and may even advice you for preoperative optimization. Also, clear your doubts about anaesthesia. 

6. Know the hospital where you are supposed to undergo the surgery

Many a time your surgeon and anaesthesiologist may be well knowledgeable, skillful and qualified with good experience. But the hospital set-up may not be adequate to tackle the emergent situation that may arise. So, ensure that the facility for acute care is available. The operating room should be well equipped with good quality anaesthesia machine, defibrillators, emergency cart, difficult airway cart at minimum. Please ensure the availability of these from the administration. The anaesthesiologist is the right person to give you the information, unless he/she is a partner in the hospital.

Best of luck, get well soon