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Preparing for Your Surgery ~ Health and Wellness Tip

SavantMD — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 06:12:41 +0000

Are you having surgery soon? Watch this health and wellness tip from Dr. Savant to learn about preparing for surgery. Watch the full video, Preparing for Surgery, with Dr. Murray.

• About Dr. Murray
• About Dr. Savant

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Preparing for Surgery

SavantMD — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 15:36:42 +0000

Many of my patients ask a variety of questions about surgery and it is important to answer each as carefully as possible in order to reduce the anxiety leading into the operative procedure.

Let’s start at the beginning. Your primary care physician has examined you and determined that you have a problem. Your primary care physician refers you to a specialist who confirms the problem and you are scheduled for the surgical procedure to correct it.

Watch the video below or Read More.

Prior to your surgery, there is a preparation you must go through. This preparation consists of your laboratory work; laboratory work is extremely important because if there’s any significant problem, information about that problem is critical to the procedure. Therefore you’ll be asked for tests such as:

A blood count
A urinalysis (analysis of the urine), and
Checking your electrolytes.

If you are over 50 years old, we’ll ask for:

An EKG (a heart tracing)
A chest x-ray

Lastly, if you are a female and you’re menstruating, we’ll ask for a pregnancy test.

None of these are going to cancel your operative procedure, but this is a case where information is critical for the preparation going into the operative procedure. After we’ve determined and actually scheduled you for your time, we will ask you to do several things.

First of all, it’s important that prior to your procedure you spend a certain number of hours without oral intake (without eating). So we’ll frequently ask you to stop eating after midnight. It’s important that your stomach is empty prior to your surgical procedure because we certainly don’t want you to vomit during the procedure because it creates problems.

When you arrive at the hospital, we will ask you to arrive two hours prior to your procedure. The reason for this is that there’s a lot of paperwork to be brought together which is informative to the anesthesiologist and to the surgeon and surgical technologists. You will then be brought into the surgical suite. At that time the anesthesiologist will speak to you and want to know about allergies, as well as, previous experiences with anesthesia. The anesthesiologist may medicate you to reduce some of the anxiety that you have going into surgery.

Prior to the surgical procedure, we will be marking and identifying the site of the surgical procedure on your body. Do not be alarmed. The site is marked by the surgeon. Subsequently in the operative suite before you go to sleep everyone must agree to what is going to be done — the anesthesiologist, the surgeon, the surgical nurse and the surgical technician.

• Dr. O’Neill on EKG

: ***

When reviewing your new prescription, inform the pharmacist about the purpose for which the doctor gave you the prescription and the directions to take it. This helps the pharmacist double check that the prescription is appropriate. Also inform the pharmacist of your known drug allergies to ensure they check for cross sensitivity. Make sure your pharmacist is aware of any over-the-counter medications or herbal supplements that you are taking to ensure they check for potential drug interactions. Lastly, fill all your prescriptions within the same pharmacy chain so that your medication profile is accurate and up-to-date. Otherwise, you run the risk of potential drug-drug interactions missed through the computer database.

After we have all identified the procedure and identified the site you will then be put to sleep. Going to sleep is a very rapid process. The next thing you will know is that you will be in the recovery room. • About Dr. Murray

What to Think About When Considering Plastic Surgery

SavantMD — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 17:59:40 +0000

There are several things to think about when considering plastic surgery.

Listen to the podcast:

• About Dr. Lee

Breast Reconstruction

SavantMD — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 04:00:17 +0000

There are a lot of exciting new options in the field of plasic surgery for patients with breast cancer. The most important consideration is to have a great team of doctors to really address the issues of cancer and then consider options for reconstruction if there are deformity issues.

Watch the video below, or Read More.

The breast team should consist of cancer specialists, general surgeons, and, for options in reconstruction, plastic surgeons.

What are some new and important trends in breast reconstruction?

Breast reconstruction involves two primary options: implant reconstruction and autologous reconstruction. In implant reconstruction, the breast is reconstructed with a silicone-type implant. In autologous reconstruction it is reconstructed using your own tissues, usually from your belly.

In the past, tissues used for autologous reconstruction often included
muscle. But today, reconstructive microsurgery has lead to innovations in this area. The same tissues can be used but without the muscle. Instead only the skin and fat are used and moved up to the breast area where blood vessels are reconnected. The result is a softer, more natural appearing breast. Additionally scarring is minimal, usually with a small scar left in the location of the tissue that is removed. This type of breast reconstruction may be referred to in a number of ways, including as “Perforator flaps” and “DIEP flaps.” This technique allows patients to get back to their life as quickly as possible, with the least amount of issues and best results possible. • About Dr. Lee