Pre-operative

Stop anti-inflammatory medications and/or aspirin, all anticoagulants such as coumadin prior to surgery. Your doctors will notify you how long to stop prior to surgery.

No eating or drinking for 8 hours prior to surgery except for prescribed medications.

Take prescribed medicines on day of surgery with a small sip of water.

If you have a fracture requiring surgery, please keep the extremity elevated as much as possible to keep the swelling to a minimum.

Post-operative

Keep incision clean and dry.

Keep cast or splint clean and dry. Do not remove. If there are problems with the splint or cast, please contact the office or on-call doctor.

Maintain a schedule for prescribed pain medications. Once a severe level of pain is reached, it is much more difficult to control the pain.

Keep your extremity elevated (if possible) to minimize swelling. This will also help with pain control.

It is not unusual to have a slight fever after general anesthesia for the first 24 to 48 hours after surgery. Drinking fluids, deep breathing, and coughing are helpful after general surgery to limit the development of fever. Any high fevers >101.5 may be more concerning. Please contact the office for further instructions.

Pain medicine can cause itching, nausea, and/or constipation. These are all COMMON side-effects of narcotic based medicine and are not necessarily a drug allergy.

If you have a pain pump, please call the office to have the pain pump removed in 24 to 48 hours.

It is not unusual to have swelling and pain of the extremities after surgery. If necessary, the ace wrap can be loosened if it seems too tight, but please do not remove the splint (if applicable).

It is not unusual to have some mild bleeding that soaks through the dressing. Please reinforce the dressing with more gauze dressing, or ace wrap if available, to provide more compression. If this does not control the bleeding, then please contact the office.

Please contact the office with any further questions.

Cast care instructions

Keep cast clean and dry, unless you have a waterproof cast

If the cast becomes too tight or loose, please call the office. A loose cast may develop into more serious problems, such as pressure ulcers, skin abrasions, infections, etc.

Post total joint replacement instructions

Perform gait training as taught by physical therapists.

No hip strengthening exercises for 6 weeks.

After 6 weeks post-op, be aware of these hip precautions:

No sitting in low seats/chairs

No squatting to pick objects off the floor

No crossing legs

No driving unless otherwise instructions

If any invasive procedure such as dental work, colonoscopy, or other surgeries are planned, please contact the office for antibiotics to be taken prior to procedure. This will lessen the risk of post-operative joint infections

Post lumbar fusion patients

Ambulate as instructed by physical therapists with brace on at all times.

It is not unusual to experience wound drainage immediately post-op. If this persists for more than 5 days, or if the drainage is foul smelling or cloudy, please contact the office for further instructions.

Any sudden change in neurovascular status such as sudden, new weakness or numbness in the legs, loss of control of bowel or bladder function is concerning. Please notify the office or on-call doctor immediately.

Persistent headaches or lightheadedness after surgery may be of concern. Please call the office for further instructions.