PreOperation Instructions

• You may eat a regular diet up till midnight the day before your procedure. You are not to eat or drink anything after midnight.

• Gastrointestinal procedures requiring oral preparations may require you to fast from an earlier time. See Colon Surgery instructions.

• You will likely have an IV started on your arrival to the hospital so that intravenous medications are able to be given to you.

• Please remove all jewelry and valuables prior to coming to the hospital.

• If you develop a cold, cough or feel that you are getting sick please notify our clinic prior to your date of surgery. We may need to reschedule your procedure to facilitate your optimum recovery.

• Please be patient during the preoperational process. There are often large volumes of patients who arrive at the same time in the morning and the staff may have a backlog of tasks causing a slight delay.

• Please bring an accurate list of all the medications you are currently taking or bring them all in a bag so that the nursing staff can obtain an accurate inventory of your medications.

• If you have medical problems, that require medications it would be extremely helpful to everyone involved in your care for you to have a list of your medical problems, surgeries you have undergone and allergies. This helps us and our staff prevent medical errors while caring for you.

• Please arrive at the hospital 2 hours prior to your procedure.

• Please ask your family member or point of contact to remain in your day surgery room while you are in surgery, so that if contact needs to be made we can reach them.

Post Operative Instructions

• Please prepare to have someone drive you home. Anesthetics from the procedure will not allow us to discharge you alone.

• Please have your prescription filled by a family member prior to discharge or promptly after discharge. We use local anesthetics for all surgical procedures, and this tends to wear off after a period of hours after discharge. If you would like us to fax this prior to your procedure, please request this on your clinic evaluation for surgery.

• Pain medications prescribed usually are Percocet and Motrin for most surgical procedures. Please take them in conjunction with one another for the best analgesia. You may find after 2-3 days you may not need the Percocet and Motrin will be sufficient for pain control.

• If you require a note for work in regards to your procedure or pre operative evaluation please call 334.347.0991 or use the "contact us" function on this website. If you require us to fax the note to your employer, please leave a point of contact and fax number for the person who is to receive the fax.

Wound Care

• In any procedure that requires a skin incision, we request that you keep the wound bone dry for 72 hours to prevent infection and enhance healing. Although it seems ointments and antibiotic salves would make the wound heal, they have the counter effect of making the wound soft, and when the sutures are removed, the wound will try to open. Please just keep it dry and add no topical agents.

• Things to look for in wound infections:

o Increasing pain 1-2 days after the surgical procedure

o Redness and swelling around the incision

o Increased drainage. Often there may be some draining just after surgery but this should stop usually within 4-6 hours.



Colonoscopy Instructions

Day before the Colonoscopy exam

• Clear liquid diet (such as soups) for lunch only. You may have a light breakfast prior to the Colyte prep. No foodstuffs by mouth other than water / coffee / tea after the lunch meal until the time of the exam.

• Begin the Colyte gallon prep solution at 1:00 pm. Make sure to consume the entire gallon over the next 4-8 hours. If cramping is felt, hold preparation for 45-60 minutes and then resume with small sips. It is extremely important to consume the entire gallon.

• You may drink water / coffee up until midnight the night prior to the colonoscopy, and you are not to consume any food or drink between midnight and the time of surgery.

• You may be instructed by others that you need to be on a clear liquid diet for up to 2 days prior to the procedure, but with the Colyte gallon prep this is unnecessary. You may also want to mix the Colyte with Cystal Light lemonade to give it more flavor.

Colon Surgery

• If you are undergoing colon surgery you will be required to undergo a prep to clear the bowel. This is very similar to the preparation for colonoscopy.

• Clear liquid diet (such as soups) for lunch only the day prior to surgery. You may have a light breakfast prior to the Colyte prep. No foodstuffs by mouth other than water / coffee / tea after the lunch meal.

• Begin the Colyte gallon prep solution at 1:00 pm the day prior to surgery. Make sure to consume the entire gallon over the next 4-8 hours. If cramping is felt, hold preparation for 45-60 minutes and then resume with small sips. It is extremely important to consume the entire gallon.

• You will also be given a course of oral antibiotics to take with the Colyte. This provides for cleaning the colon and maximum antisepsis.

• You may drink water / coffee / tea up until midnight the night prior to the surgery, and you are not to consume any food or drink between midnight and the time of surgery.

• You may be instructed by others that you need to be on a clear liquid diet for up to 2 days prior to the procedure, but with the Colyte gallon prep this is unnecessary. You may also want to mix the Colyte with Cystal Light lemonade to give it more flavor.

Nissen Fundoplication Reflux Surgery-Adult Mechanical Soft Diet

The purpose of this soft diet for one to four weeks is to prevent tearing or blocking at your surgery site, to allow it to heal more quickly. The diet includes at least three meals. It does not include foods that form gas. With careful planning, it will meet the Recommended Daily Dietary Allowances. However, you may need to take vitamin and mineral supplements.

General guidelines

• Choose a variety of foods for good nutrition. Eat enough calories to maintain healthy weight.
• Chew food thoroughly. Sit upright while eating. It may be helpful to sit upright for about two hours after eating.
• Eat soft thoroughly cooked foods.
• No raw fruits and vegetables accept those which are very soft- such as ripe bananas, avocado, or peeled peaches.
• Avoid meats such as beef, chicken, turkey. Soft flaky fish and soft ground beef are permitted.
• Ground beef should be crumbled into a sauce.
• Include adequate protein from soft cooked eggs, dairy products, grains, vegetables, and liquid supplements such as Carnation Instant Breakfast, Ensure, or Nutra Shakes.
• Avoid spicy foods that cause discomfort.
• No carbonated beverages.
• To relieve abdominal discomfort, it may be helpful to limit fluids to 2 cups with meals.
• Drink the remainder between meals to avoid dehydration.
• Eat small frequent meals if necessary to get the calories and nutrition that you need.