Preoperative Information | Hip
At the Hospital & Day of Surgery
Being Admitted for Surgery
Please arrive promptly at the scheduled time at the main entrance of the hospital and check in at the hospital reception desk. You will receive your identification bracelet and be escorted to the pre-surgery area. Your surgeon and anesthesiologist, the nursing staff and other hospital personnel will visit you in this area to confirm surgery plans, prepare you for surgery, and answer questions.
Nursing Assessment/Teaching
The nursing staff will prepare you for your surgery by assisting you in putting on a hospital gown and measuring you for surgical support hose. The nurse will also measure your vital signs: blood pressure, pulse, respiration and temperature.
Most patients will have a heparin lock (intravenous) started pre-operatively. Through this IV you will be given an antibiotic before surgery. All patients will have an IV after surgery, through which fluids, antibiotics and pain medicine will be given.
Eating Before Surgery
The night before surgery, you may eat dinner as usual. If you are scheduled for surgery in the morning, you will not be allowed any food or drink after 12:00 midnight. If your surgery is in the afternoon, you may be allowed a clear liquid breakfast.
Doctor's Visit
Your surgeon will visit you the morning of surgery. This is the time for you to ask any last minute questions or discuss any concerns. If you are having surgery on only one hip your surgeon will mark the opposite hip with a large "NO". You will also be seen by your anesthesiologist who will discuss the anesthetic with you.
Surgery Preparations
The morning of surgery, do not use deodorants, perfumes, shaving lotions or skin lotions. You should remove all hairpins, nail polish (finger and toe) or artificial nails and jewelry. Wedding rings may be left on, but must be taped. Please give all your valuables to your family; we cannot be responsible for them.
About one hour before surgery you will be asked to empty your bladder, and then you will return to bed. You will remain in the pre-surgery area in bed until surgery personnel arrive to take you to the operating room. Dentures, hearing aids, contact lenses and glasses should be removed at this time. Your family may go with you as far as the surgery hallway. They will then be directed to the waiting area where they should stay until your operation is over so that your surgeon can talk with them. Please have your family notify the waiting area receptionist if they leave the area.