How Long Does Surgery Take

What Happens in Surgery

Reviewed by Carmelita Swiner, MD on November 23, 2020 650x350_aortic_stenosis_surgery_treatment_ref_guid

Equally your surgery date gets closer, you might feel uneasy. But the more than y'all know nearly what to expect, the less nervous you'll exist. Take a few minutes to acquire how the day will unfold.

What happens when I get to the hospital?

280x190_aortic_stenosis_surgery_treatment_ref_guid You'll usually exist asked to get in well-nigh 2 hours before your operation starts. A registered nurse volition greet you and assist you prep. You'll discuss with them your medical history and the medicines you take. You'll also get a chance to talk to people on your surgical squad near the performance.

Earlier you go to the operating room, you'll get-go alter into a gown. The nurse will remind you to remove things like your jewelry, glasses or contact lenses, hearing aids, or a wig if y'all accept them.

A nurse checks your heart rate, temperature, claret pressure level, and pulse. The surgeon may mark the spot on your body where the procedure volition be washed. A nurse places an IV line in your arm and then the doctor can requite you fluid and medicine during your operation.

When it's fourth dimension for your surgery, yous're wheeled into the operating room on a stretcher.

Who will be on my surgical team?

A grouping of doctors and nurses piece of work together to make certain everything goes smoothly. The specific people depend on the type of procedure you're going to have. But in general, your team will have these pros:

Surgeon. This doctor leads the team and does the functioning.

Surgeons have to consummate iv years of medical school, plus at least 5 years of special preparation. They also take to pass a national surgical board test. The one y'all choose should be experienced in the type of procedure yous're having.

Anesthesiologist. This health care professional gives you medicine that makes you pain-free during surgery.

Certified registered nurse anesthetist. They assist your anesthesiologist and monitor y'all before, during, and after your operation to brand sure you get the right corporeality of pain medicine.

Surgical tech. They set upwardly the tools your surgeon volition utilize and make sure they're sterile.

Operating room nurse. They help the surgeon during your procedure. For instance, they may pass instruments and supplies during the operation.

Will I be in any pain during the performance?

Y'all'll get medicine, called anesthesia, so that you won't feel anything during surgery. The type you get depends on your health and the procedure you lot're having.

Local anesthesia. Information technology blocks pain in the part of your body where you have surgery. Yous'll still exist awake and alert.

Regional anesthesia. You're injected with medicine that numbs the whole area of your body where the surgery takes place.

General anesthesia. It puts you to sleep during your operation. You get this type of medicine through an IV in your vein or by breathing into a mask.

What will happen during my surgery?

Once you're in the operating room, you breathe oxygen through a mask. Your anesthesiologist gives you medicine to prevent pain.

Your surgical team will track your health during the whole procedure. They'll probably use:

A prune on your finger to measure your oxygen levels
A cuff on your arm to check blood pressure
Pads on your chest to keep tabs on your eye rate

How will my surgical team keep me from getting an infection?

Before the surgery starts, a nurse cleans your skin with an antiseptic to assistance forestall infections. They may remove hair from the area and place a sterile drape over your torso. It will accept an opening in the identify where the surgeon volition work.

It'southward rare to get an infection during surgery. Your team does everything it can to protect you. Your doctors and nurses will:

Make clean their hands and arms upwards to their elbows with a germ-killing cleaner earlier the performance.
Article of clothing masks, gowns, and gloves.
Clean the part of your body where the surgery is existence done with a germ-killing soap.
Clean and cover the cut afterward.

They may also give you antibiotics earlier your procedure to help foreclose an infection.

Where volition I go later my surgery?

You'll wake upwards in a recovery room. A nurse checks your heart rate, breathing, and the bandaged area where your process was done. They might also inquire you to take deep breaths and cough to articulate your lungs.

You lot'll stay in the recovery room until you're fully awake and all your medical signs, like blood pressure and centre rate, are stable. How much time you lot spend there depends on what kind of surgery y'all had.

After that, depending on the type of operation you had, y'all'll get sent to a infirmary room or back home. Either way, you'll be ready to be greeted by your loved ones and begin the road to recovery.