For all procedures done in the hospital whether major abdominal surgery, outpatient anorectal procedures or colonoscopy, there are certain important things to do before your surgery.

1. You should have nothing to eat or drink for at least 6 hours before your procedure. For morning procedures you should have nothing to eat or drink from midnight the night before. This is to ensure an empty stomach and minimize the risk of aspiration, a potentially serious complication of any procedure.

2. You should arrive at the hospital 2 hours ahead of time. There is much paperwork and preparation to be done before your procedure and a delay in arrival may cause cancellation of the procedure.

3. You should have a ride home from the hospital. For liability reasons the hospital will not allow a patient to leave after a procedure by themselves. This person does not have to stay for the procedure, though of course, they may.

4. Medications such as aspirin, plavix, ticlid, ibuprophen (any antiplatelet or NSAID medication), or coumadin should be stopped at least 5 days before the procedure unless otherwise discussed with your surgeon.

5. Diabetics should discuss what to do with medications and diet with the surgeon.

6. Other medications should be taken as usual with a sip of water.

In addition, patients having colon surgery or a colonoscopy should complete a bowel prep as described separately. (Please attach links here for bowel prep for colon surgery, AM and PM colonoscopy and nulytely preps) This is important to wash out the colon for visualization during a colonoscopy and to minimize the risk of infection or leak in surgery. If you are unable to complete this your surgeon should be called.

You do not need any special preparation for an office visit or procedure unless specified ahead of time.