Preoperative care

Preoperative care refers to health care provided before a surgical operation. The aim of preoperative care is to do whatever is right to increase the success of the surgery. Preoperative care refers to health care provided before a surgical operation. The aim of preoperative care is to do whatever is right to increase the success of the surgery. At some point before the operation the health care provider will assess the fitness of the person to have surgery. This assessment should include whatever tests are indicated, but not include screening for conditions without an indication. Immediately before surgery the person's body is prepared, perhaps by washing with an antiseptic, and whenever possible their anxiety is addressed to make them comfortable. At some point before surgery a health care provider conducts a preoperative assessment to verify that a person is fit and ready for the surgery. For surgeries in which a person receives either general or local anesthesia, this assessment may be done either by a doctor or a nurse trained to do the assessment. The available research does not give insight about any differences in outcomes depending on whether a doctor or nurse conducts this assessment. Playing calming music to patients immediately before surgery has a beneficial effect in addressing anxiety about the surgery. Hair removal at the location where the surgical incision is made is often done before the surgery. Sufficient evidence does not exist to say that removing hair is a useful way to prevent infections. When it is done immediately before surgery, the use of hair clippers might be preferable to shaving. Bathing with an antiseptic like chlorhexidine does not seem to affect incidence of complications after surgery. However, washing the surgical site with chlorhexidine after surgery does seem helpful for preventing surgical site infection. Screening is a test to see whether a person has a disease, and screenings are often done before surgery. Screenings should happen when they are indicated and not otherwise as a matter of routine. Screenings which are done without indication carry the risks of having unnecessary health care.