You've determined that having surgery is the best line of action for your issues. Your surgeon might want to assess your health before the treatment to make sure you're fit enough. A general anesthetic is required for the majority of procedures, which puts a lot of strain on your body. Vital organs may not be able to survive the complete course of treatment if they are not working properly as a result of this stress. In particular with elective surgeries, surgeons may frequently demand patients to undergo preparatory tests to see how specific key organs are performing based on their existing health. This is referred to as a preoperative assessment or a surgical clearance.
Finding any patient comorbidities that can pose issues during the pre- and post-operative periods is the major objective of this evaluation. Preoperative assessments are not required for all patients. Finally, a preoperative evaluation will give medical professionals the ability to evaluate and lower any risks that could arise during surgery. Houston Family Practice offers preoperative assessments.
The preoperative evaluation
The three subcategories of preoperative examinations are preoperative history, preoperative examination, and preoperative testing. Pre-operative testing is frequently done 2-4 weeks prior to an elective surgery patient's actual operation. Additionally, due to their potential many chronic illnesses, some patients may require examinations from multiple doctors throughout this period of medical clearance for surgery. For surgical clearance, some patients may also need to meet their Houston primary care, as well as a heart specialist, a lung specialist, or other specialists for a thorough and focused assessment.
Pre-op checklist
Two separate surgical clearance tests are part of the preoperative examination:
- General examination: to rule out the possibility of an unidentified underlying disease.
- Airway examination: The anesthesiologist assesses the patient's neck and level of mouth opening before assigning a score using the Mallampati classification (scored from grade I-fully open up to grade IV-fully crowded). Usually, the day before the procedure, this is done to gauge the intubation's challenges. Whether it's asthma cure or mood disorder management, primary care doctors in Houston can help.
Before having surgery, the following imaging and testing procedures may be performed:
- Clotting screen: Reduces the possibility of excessive bleeding or the development of blood clots, and aids in the detection of any coagulation or bleeding issues that can make surgery more difficult.
- Blood typing: If you need a blood transfusion because you lost more blood than you anticipated, it is very important to know your blood type compatibility.
- Chest X-ray (CXR): Only used when very essential and infrequently. If a patient has a respiratory condition and hasn't had a recent CXR in the past 12 months, if they have new cardiorespiratory symptoms, if they've recently traveled to a place where tuberculosis is endemic, or if they have a history of smoking, they should be tested.
Conclusion
Before your admission to the hospital or before a number of outpatient treatments, many surgeons will advise regular lab testing. The tests can identify potential issues that, if discovered and addressed right away, could make surgery more difficult. You can get in touch with Houston Family Practice for surgical clearance.
