Day of Operation

What to expect on the day of your operation. Well, before that day we will have told you exactly what procedure you are having done, the type of anaesthesia, whether it is under local anaesthetic or under general anaesthetic. If it is under a local anaesthetic of course eat and drink freely even if you have got any medical problems. If it is under general anaesthetic we would like you to be starved from food for at least 6 hours before the operation, and you can have a glass of water up to 2 hours before the operation. On the day of the operation please remove any rings from both hands, but certainly from the hand we are operating on because your fingers may swell post-operatively and it will be very difficult to remove the ring post-operatively. Many of my patients have false nails. I don't mind you having false nails. I would rather you keep your false nails on so that I have got a nice shiny surface to clean rather than a roughened surface that is often on the under surface of acrylic nails once they have been removed, but with all nails, whether they are false or real nails I really would appreciate some nail hygiene, just removing some of the dirt from underneath the nail prior to surgery. On the day of surgery, you will walk in through the main entrance of the hospital, give your name in at reception, and then they will direct you to the relevant location. You may be having ambulatory surgery so you may be sent to just a simple chair, or a La-Z-Boy-type recovery chair. You may be admitted to a room, and we will show you some videos later about the different types of accommodation that we have. After the operation I see all my patients unless of course I have done the operation wide-awake under local anaesthetic. I will be discussing the type of surgery with you, how well it went during the surgery, and of course you are free to look at the operation whilst I am operating. Many of the private hospitals that I work at now have a 4G camera with television screens around the operating theatre, and of course I encourage you to look at the operation if you feel it is appropriate. Some of my patients however are quite squeamish and really don’t want to look, and of course we will turn the TV screens off and cover your arms so you cannot see the operation. But we really think that it is important that you do engage with that operation, perhaps even look at the type of surgery I am doing because your rehabilitation starts right there at the time of the operation, and often my hand therapist will come to surgery and discuss that with you while I am doing the surgery, what to expect over the next few weeks to month whilst you rehabilitate following the surgery.