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anaesthetist Pre-assessment

Sa425
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Hello

I am due to have surgery next week and at my pre-assessment last week the nurse said I would need an appointment with the anaesthetist. She said this would be a telephone appointment. Today, I was contacted and asked to go in on Friday to meet with the anaesthetist. I’m a bit worried now and don’t know what to expect. So you know what they will cover just so I can be more informed and prepared?

Many thanks

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    Hi Sa425

    I am also about to have surgery. I had an anaesthetist appointment last week, in my case it was in advance of the pre-op assessment.

    I had the appointment because I have a high BMI so could be high risk. 

    At the appointment I had blood pressure/oxygen levels, height and weight done.

    Then spoke to the anaesthetist. Went through lots of questions about my general health, any previous anaesthetics etc. He used all that to calculate a risk for anaesthetic - in my case he was happy that although I had a high BMI, I was still quite low risk which was reassuring.

    Hope your appointment goes ok x  

  • Offline in reply to Sunflowergirl123

    Thank you for the reply  

    I’m probably worrying about nothing, hopefully it will all be ok. I had my pre-assessment with the nurse last week and everything was fine, she took the same readings and measurements as you mentioned. I also had a lung function test. 

    hope everything goes well for you too x

  • Hello and thanks for posting,

    Usually the anaesthetist will take a medical history, and ask about any current medications or known drug allergies.

    They will sometimes listen to the chest with a stethoscope, or order a routine ECG (heart tracing). They may outline the type of anaesthetic they will use, eg. a general anaesthetic, and if appropriate, they may also provide information about any pain relief, eg. intravenous (drip into vein), or tablet medication pain relief. 

    You can ask them any questions at this time.

    I hope that this helps,

    Best wishes,

    Vanda

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