When do I stop eating and drinking prior to the procedure?

The hospital will contact you the day prior with admission and fasting times. Generally, you cannot eat for six hours before surgery. You can drink clear fluids (water, clear apple juice, black tea or coffee) up to two hours before your procedure.

Weight loss injections

If you are taking weight loss injections like Ozempic, Wegovy or Mounjaro you need to have clear fluids for 24 hours prior to the procedure and fast for two hours before the operations. These drugs stop your stomach from emptying which is why you need clear fluids for longer.

Do I take my regular medications?

Take all your regular medications with a sip of water. It is particularly important for medications relating to blood pressure and control of your heart rhythm (beta blockers).

Blood thinners

There are a large number of blood thinners on the market (aspirin, plavix, xarelto, brillinta, etc.). Each of these works in different ways and we will give you instructions on when to cease them. Please ensure you let us know that you are taking one of these drugs, so we can give the correct instructions.

Warfarin

Warfarin needs to be stopped 5 days before surgery. We start injections of clexane 4 days before surgery with the last one the night before. You will need your INR checked on the day of surgery. An INR of 1.3 or less is acceptable. We will restart clexane and warfarin as soon as possible after surgery. Please discuss this with me if you have questions as the regime is tailored for each patient, depending on their medical problems.

Vitamins, supplements, fish oil, krill oil.

Cease all non-prescription medications for two weeks prior to surgery. It is difficult to know what these supplements really contain and what they may do. It is essentially an “evidence free zone”!

Diabetics

Notify my staff as well as the hospital that you are diabetic. We will try and put diabetic patients early on the operating list. You must stop drugs called “Flozins” three days before surgery. Please ensure you inform us of all your diabetic tablets so that we can tell you which ones to stop taking before surgery.

Do I bring my CT scan or ultrasound?

There is no need to bring any scans – everything is now available online.

Do I need tests prior to my surgery?

For all urological procedures I prefer to have a urine test to ensure that there is no infection. Performing elective urological surgery on patients with infected urine is dangerous. We can perform a quick urine test in the hospital or surgery may be postponed if necessary. If you have not been given a request form to have your urine checked one week prior to surgery please contact my staff.

Our goal

Our goal is to ensure that your procedure goes safely and smoothly and that you feel well informed and understand what is going to happen. Some of the above pointers may help in preparing for surgery. Please contact my staff if you have any questions before surgery. I will also speak to you before and after the procedure.