Having Surgery? Here's why you need perioperative care

3-minute read

If you have surgery coming up, perioperative care could make a big difference in how quickly you recover and your quality of life after the surgery is complete. This specialized care occurs before your operation. Because perioperative care may be unfamiliar, especially if you've never had surgery, here are three reasons why it is so beneficial.

1. Perioperative care helps improve your overall health before your procedure.

Perioperative care is a bit like training for a race — taking steps to build strength and endurance so you can avoid injuries or other setbacks on the big day. The goal is to make sure you are healthier before surgery to significantly reduce potential health complications or a prolonged recovery after surgery.

Care begins at an initial perioperative appointment, where the team will review the status of your health conditions, overall well-being, and medications you take. Based on the type of surgery, they may check if your body is prepared to handle some of the potential recovery needs you may have.

They may order certain tests to check your heart and lungs and recommend changes to improve the status of your existing health conditions, such as diabetes and high blood pressure. Once your status is understood, it's time to prepare your body for the surgery with an optimization strategy.

This may include how to improve your nutrition, mobility, and strength. Or how you can reduce your risk of bleeding or clotting, nausea or vomiting, and constipation. There are many other strategies as well, depending on your specific surgery. Each one is customized to help you have a faster and improved recovery course while anticipating your individual needs.

If you smoke, perioperative care often involves helping you quit. Smoking can negatively impact your healing and recovery, so your team will connect you with quit aids and other tools necessary to help you break the habit.

Your team may teach you exercises to strengthen your muscles or lungs in preparation for your procedure.

Perioperative care also addresses mental health. Patients undergoing surgery can feel anxious. Your perioperative providers can address any concerns or worries you have so they don't hinder your preparation or recovery.

This comprehensive, customized care plan is shared with your surgeon, anesthesia team, and primary care provider so that everyone is working towards one common goal — your successful recovery.

2. Perioperative care helps you plan for surgery day and the days after surgery.

Although you have experienced surgeons performing your procedure and taking care of you in the hospital, you'll need to take steps at home to make sure you have a successful outcome. Perioperative care helps you prepare by:

● Identifying a support person. You'll want to have someone who can bring you to your perioperative visits and your surgery, in addition to helping you at home as you recover. This support person can be pared with a care navigator so we can build a dedicated care team.

● Planning for discharge. Many patients who recover at home tend to do better. But depending on your health, recovering at home alone may not be the best option. Perioperative care helps you develop a discharge plan, which might be having information on a skilled nursing facility or an at-home medical service to monitor your recovery.

● Preparing your home. If you can recover at home, you may need special equipment, such as a wheelchair, shower chair, or hospital bed. Your perioperative team can help identify those needs and get you set up before your procedure.

3. Perioperative care improves outcomes for your surgery.

The principles of perioperative care focus on planning. Being healthy before surgery allows you to recover more quickly and avoid potential complications. In addition, having a medical team fully aware of your health status helps them come up with the right solutions for common issues that may arise, like pain, constipation, breathing, and mobility.

At Reid Health, we're committed to providing expert, compassionate, individualized care for each patient we serve. Reid's dedicated Perioperative Clinic sets us apart as one of the few hospital systems in the country with this specialized model for evaluating patients before surgery.