When it is your turn to have the operation,
your hospital will write to you. It is likely that you will be asked to attend
a "Preassessment Clinic". This clinic allows a detailed medical assessment to
be carried two or three weeks prior to the surgery. You should allow a considerable
amount of time for this attendance; patients attending Mr. Trakru's preassessment
clinic at the North Middlesex Hospital spend about 3 to 4 hours in the hospital.
This time is spent in obtaining an indepth medical history, a general physical
examination, various blood tests, a urine test, X-Rays and a heart tracing (ECG).
Please remember to bring with you all the medicines that you normally take.
Numerous swabs will be taken at this visit to check for MRSA. The MRSA is a
common germ that a lot of us carry on our person and is usually not harmful
in healthy individuals. However, it can be quite dangerous in patients who have
undergone surgery and infections caused by this germ can be very difficult to
treat. Further, people who 'carry' the germ may, while coming to no harm themselves,
unknowingly pass it on to others in whom it may cause a nasty infection. Therefore
it is good practice to check for the presence of this germ prior to surgery.
If the test comes back positive and the germ is present, then you may require
a week or two of treatment before the operation can go ahead.
This appointment also presents an opportunity to discuss the operation again
with your surgeon and seek answers to any questions that you may have.