Pre & Post Operative Instructions
Pre-Operative Instructions
General Instructions
- Do not eat or drink after midnight (12 a.m.) prior to surgery
- You must have a friend or relative drive you home after surgery. Cabs or transportation services are not allowed unless a friend or relative is with you
- You must have a responsible adult stay with you for the first 24 hours after your surgery
- 7-10 days before surgery discontinue any aspirin, anti-inflammatory, or arthritis medications such as Aleve, Advil, Ibuprofen, Celebrex, Daypro, Naprosyn, Motrin, Relafen, Cataflam, Lodine, or Voltaren. These may thin your blood. You will also need to discontinue any garlic supplements, prescription or over the counter diet pills and herbal supplements. If you are not sure if you should discontinue a medication/pill please contact the surgery facility. Contact information for specific facilities is provided below
- You will need to stop any blood thinning medications such as Coumadin or Plavix. Please inform our office if you are taking these medications
- You MAY take Tylenol or Extra Strength Tylenol for discomfort
- You should continue any other medications prescribed for other health reasons such as for heart or blood pressure. Medications may be taken the morning of surgery with a sip of water
- If you have a history of migraines and take medication for them please bring your medication with you
- If you are diabetic please DO NOT take your insulin but bring it with you the day of surgery. If you are diabetic please contact the surgery facility for special instructions
- Wear loose fitting comfortable clothing
- Remove make-up and nail polish
- If you wear contact lenses please either leave them at home or bring your case and solution with you
- Leave all valuables at home including all jewelry
- The scheduled surgery times appointed to you by your physician’s office might be subject to change. If a change occurs, someone will contact you prior to surgery
- Nursing staff from Emerson Road Surgery Center or North Campus Surgery Center will contact you prior to surgery. If you have not been contacted within 24 hours of your surgery, please call 314 (569)-2918
- If your surgery is at a hospital, please call the appropriate number 3 days after you have scheduled your surgery:
- Missouri Baptist Medical Center – (314) 996–5827
Refills
Please call your pharmacy and ask them to contact the office at our main number (314) 991–2113 between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. for any refill on medications prescribed by Dr. King.
Refills will not be authorized after regular office hours, on holidays or weekends.
Please note that by law some medications require a written prescription for refills. Please ask the nurses or pharmacist if your pain medication can be called in or needs a new written prescription.
Pre–Certification
Our office will contact your insurance company to inquire about precertification or authorization for surgery. We will contact you if there are any problems with surgery approval. Please note that pre-certification is not a guarantee of payment. Please contact your insurance company yourself to verify coverage and benefits and any out-of-pocket expenses that you may be responsible for paying such as deductible and co-insurance.
Pre-operative Medical or Cardiac Clearance
Every patient needs medical clearance for in-patient surgeries such as joint replacements. Patients with histories of heart attacks or other heart problems or high blood pressure or stroke may need medical clearance even for out-patient procedures. Please ask our office or the surgery facility if you are not sure if you need clearance.
If you do need clearance, please provide our office with your primary medical doctors name and number. If we are scheduling while you are in the office, you will be provided with a prescription requesting clearance and a list of pre-operative tests to be completed. If we are scheduling over the phone we will fax the prescription to your primary doctors office for you. You are responsible for contacting your primary doctor to arrange an appointment for clearance and to verify you are cleared prior to surgery. Your primary doctor will refer you to a cardiologist if he/she feels cardiac clearance if necessary. If clearances are not received within 5 business days of surgery, your case may need to be postponed.
Post-Operative Instructions
General Out-Patient Procedures
Written instructions will be provided upon discharge from your surgical procedure. Dr. King has a general post-operative instruction form that will be given to you and your family/friends. This document contains information about your procedure, follow-up appointment, physical therapy, dressing changes/bathing, diet, ice, elevation, and medications. Basic information about the most common medications prescribed is included in the form, but Dr. King will circle and provide a separate prescription for the specific medication he feels is most appropriate for your particular procedure. For additional information, please read about specific medications below.
An example of this post-operative instruction form is provided and available for download and printing.
It is common for Dr. King to utilize post-operative medical equipment to aid in your recovery. Examples of these types of equipment include braces, slings, motion machines (CPM), ice machines and pneumatic compression devices (foot pumps). Information about specific equipment will be provided by OS Medical prior to and/or on the day of your surgery.
Total Joint Replacement
Specific discharge instructions will be given at the time of discharge from the hospital.
In general, patients are either discharged to home or a rehabilitation facility after 1 to 2 days in the hospital. This decision is based upon evaluations and recommendations from Dr. King, physical therapist and medical consultants. There is a team of support staff at the hospital to help coordinate the details of your discharge.
If you are discharged home after your hospital stay, you will receive “home health care”. In general, this care will consist of wound evaluation by a visiting nurse, blood draws as needed and physical therapy.
Most total joint replacement procedures require the use of blood thinning medications for one month after surgery. These medications help protect against the formation of dangerous blood clots in the legs and pelvis. The most common medication used by Dr. King is Aspirin unless you have a personal history of blood clots or clotting disorders such as Factor V Leiden.