Preparing for Surgery

Once you and Dr Zicat decide that surgery will help you, you will need to learn what to expect from the surgery and create a treatment plan for the best results afterward. Preparing mentally and physically for surgery is an important step toward a successful result. Understanding the process and your role in it will help you recover more quickly and have fewer problems.

Before surgery, Dr Zicat will perform a physical examination to make sure you don’t have any conditions that could interfere with the surgery or the outcomes. Prior to your surgery you may be required to have blood tests, an ECG, chest or joint x-rays. Requests for these tests will be given to you when your surgery date has been booked with the hospital. For some patients, Dr Zicat may recommend pre-operative review by a Physician.

• Discuss any medications you are taking with Dr Zicat and your family doctor to see which ones you should stop taking before surgery
• If you are overweight, losing weight before surgery will help decrease the stress you place on your new joint; however, you should not diet during the month before your surgery
• If you are taking aspirin, anti-inflammatory medications, warfarin or any drugs that increase the risk of bleeding you may need to stop taking them one week before surgery to minimize the risk of bleeding; please discuss this with Dr Zicat or Louisa prior to your surgery
• If you smoke, you should stop or cut down to reduce your surgery risks and improve your recovery
• Have any tooth, gum, bladder or bowel problems treated before surgery to reduce the risk of infection later
• Eat a well-balanced diet, supplemented by a daily multivitamin with iron
• Report any infections or areas of skin damage to Dr Zicat as these may need to be treated, and may affect the timing or your surgery
• Arrange for someone to help out with everyday tasks like cooking, shopping and laundry when you return home

Mater Hospital and Macquarie University Hospital

You will be given forms which you will need to complete:

• Consent form (signed by yourself and by Dr Zicat)
• Mater Hospital/Macquarie University Hospital Admission Form

We can help you with these forms. You will need to either take them, or mail, email of fax them to the appropriate hospital.

Pre-Admission

Mater Hospital and Macquarie University Hospital run pre-admission clinics. These clinics will explain the hospital process, discuss the most appropriate rehabilitation options for you and answer any questions you may have regarding your stay in hospital. They also give you advice on any equipment you may need when you go home. Patients usually attend the clinic two weeks prior to surgery.

Admission to hospital will be on the same day as your surgery. The hospital will call on the afternoon prior to surgery with a time to arrive for your surgery.

Your anaesthetist will call you a few days prior to surgery to discuss anaesthetic options.

Concord Hospital

Dr Zicat operates on public patients at Concord Hospital. If you need surgery, Dr Zicat will provide you with the necessary admission and consent forms at the time of your consultation. These need to be sent to Concord Hospital. The hospital will acknowledge receipt of these documents and will give you an approximate timeframe for surgery.

You will be given a surgery date from Concord Hospital when a definite time and date becomes available. At that time the hospital will contact you and will ask you to attend a pre-admission clinic.

When you attend the pre-admission clinic, you will be given all the information you need about your hospital stay. Once your pre-admission clinic is completed the hospital will advise Dr Zicat of your surgery date.

Admission

You will be admitted on the day of your surgery. The nursing staff will give you instructions and prepare you for theatre.

Joint replacement surgery generally takes 1 – 2 hours for your surgeon to complete. You will be away from the ward for 3 - 5 hours as some time is needed prior to surgery for your anaesthetic and also in recovery ward after your surgery.

Arthroscopic knee surgery is usually same day surgery.

Arthroscopic hip surgery sometimes requires an overnight stay.