The day before surgery, I’m sure your heart will be full of worry and you and your family may not know what to do. This article will give you a list of actions to take the day before your surgery, so please relax, work well with your doctor, and do what you need to do to prepare for the next day’s surgery.
Eating and drinking preparation
For the next day’s surgery to go smoothly, you will need to eat a “clear liquid” diet the day before the surgery or take an oral nutrition solution as directed by your doctor. You need to take the following into account: no solid food; 1 cup of water, tea or coffee (about 200 ml) every hour, 6-8 cups per day, about 1500 ml in total, mainly cold plain water, avoiding sugary drinks; diabetic patients need to adjust their dose of glucose-lowering medication based on blood glucose monitoring.
If you are not quite sure what foods you can and cannot eat, you can refer to the table below.
| Drinkable | Not to be consumed |
| Soup | |
| Broth (chicken, fish, beef, ribs, etc.) | Broths with solid particulate ingredients inside |
| Desserts | |
| Flavored ices, fruit candies, etc. | The rest of the desserts |
| Drinks | |
| Juice (lemon juice, apple juice, grape juice) | Dairy products |
| Sodas (Coke, Sprite, Seven Seasons, etc.) | milk tea |
| Sports drinks (Pulse, Gatorade, etc.) | Beverages with alcoholic ingredients |
| Coffee | |
| Tea | |
| Water | |
Preparation for life
The day before surgery, you will need:
- Shave the body hair in the area, clean the skin, and get a haircut if necessary;
- Avoid getting cold after bathing and do not apply skin irritating cosmetics such as perfume;
- If you are used to wearing contact lenses, you need to change them to frames before surgery;
- Do not wear precious metal jewelry, and report any metal objects (such as pacemakers, plates, etc.) that have been placed in your body;
- Wear lower limb compression stockings to prevent deep vein thrombosis;
- The need to remove any hearing aids, dentures, wigs, etc. that may be present before going into the operating room.
Meeting with the anesthesiologist
You will meet with your anesthesiologist for a preoperative anesthesia evaluation, including a review of your past medical history, any post-anesthesia adverse effects you may have had (e.g., nausea, vomiting, dizziness, pain, etc.); your doctor will also talk to you about anesthesia-related precautions, and will discuss with you how to administer postoperative analgesic medications, such as epidurals, intravenous indwelling analgesic pumps, etc.
Meeting with the surgeon
You will meet with your surgeon for a preoperative conversation and to sign an informed consent document. The surgeon will explain the procedure, steps, possible intraoperative surprises, as well as postoperative complications, the importance of postoperative rehabilitation exercises, and precautions for family members to accompany you. You can communicate with your doctor in detail about any questions you may have during the conversation, and we believe that each doctor will be able to answer your questions. If you have trouble sleeping at night, you can also tell your doctor to see if you can take sleeping pills in moderation.