For patients having surgery

You will need to fast before most operations. This means that you must not eat any food or drink milk during the 6 hours before your operation.

You may drink small amounts (a few sips) of water, fruit squash, clear fruit juice without pulp, fizzy drinks, tea or black coffee until 2 hours before your operation.

Do not smoke or use snus during the 2 hours before your operation. You should also avoid chewing gum or sucking sweets during the last 2 hours before your operation.

Children

Children must not eat or drink cow's milk during the 6 hours before their operation. They may drink water, squash or clear apple juice until 1 hour before their operation. Babies and young children may have breast milk, infant formula, banana or yoghurt until 4 hours before their operation.

Smoking

If you smoke, you are at greater risk of developing pneumonia and other complications after an operation. We therefore recommend that you stop smoking 4–8 weeks before your operation. If you are unable to stop, it is still important that you do not smoke on the day of your operation.

If you do not follow the fasting and smoking instructions, your operation may have to be delayed or cancelled.

Different fasting instructions apply for some procedures. If this applies to you, we will explain these to you before your operation.

Please bring all the medicines you take regularly, or an up-to-date list of your medicines. We need to know the dose of each medicine and how often you take it.

If you use inhalers for a lung condition, please bring them with you.

It is particularly important that we know if you take blood-thinning medicines (anticoagulants). If you are unsure whether any of your medicines are blood thinners, ask your GP. Some of these medicines need to be stopped before an operation. If this applies to you, you will be told what to do when you receive your appointment letter.

Please also let us know if you take any herbal or natural remedies.

If you use medical equipment such as a CPAP or VPAP machine, please bring it with you.

Being in unfamiliar surroundings and thinking about what is going to happen can make it difficult to fall asleep. If needed, a nurse on your ward can give you a sleeping tablet to help you get a good night's sleep before your operation.

Before you are taken to the operating theatre, you will be given pre-medication. This is medication given before anaesthesia and usually consists of pain-relieving tablets that you swallow with a small amount of water. You may also be given tablets to help you relax.

The anaesthetist will decide what is most suitable for you based on the type of operation you are having and the type of anaesthetic planned.

If you need to take your regular medicines before your operation, you will be given instructions about this.

On the morning of your operation, you should shower, wash your hair and brush your teeth. If you are having surgery in the abdominal area, it is particularly important that you remember to wash your belly button.

You must remove nail polish, make-up, rings, jewellery, piercings and your watch before you come to the operating department. This is for your own safety and to maintain good hygiene during the operation.

Hair growth in the area being operated on will usually need to be removed. This is most often done as part of the operation preparation. In some cases, it may be necessary to remove facial hair, such as a beard or moustache.

Just before you are taken to the operating department, we ask you to empty your bladder. For some operations, a urinary catheter is inserted into the bladder. If this applies to you, the operating team will let you know.

You must remove contact lenses before your operation. You may keep your glasses, hearing aids and dentures with you.

Mobile phones must not be brought to the operating department.

It can be difficult to say exactly when your operation will take place. Patients who need urgent treatment may cause changes to the planned schedule.

Sometimes operations are delayed so much that some patients may have to wait until another day.

When you arrive, you will be welcomed by an anaesthetic nurse. Your name, date of birth and other details will be checked against your medical records and documents. A cannula (a small plastic tube) will be inserted into a vein. This will be used to give you anaesthetic and other medicines during your operation.

In the operating theatre, you will be connected to monitoring equipment that allows the staff to closely monitor your blood pressure, heart rate, breathing and other important body functions during the operation.

In the operating theatre, the surgeon, operating department nurses, anaesthetic nurse and anaesthetist will be present. Everyone has specific responsibilities during the procedure to ensure that you receive the best possible care.

Stavanger University Hospital is a teaching hospital and is responsible each year for the training and education of students in medicine, nursing, ambulance care and various specialist programmes. This means that students may sometimes observe or take part in operations under the supervision of experienced healthcare professionals.

The area where you will have surgery is disinfected with a coloured alcohol-based solution. This may leave your skin with a yellow colour, which will disappear when you wash after the operation.

The skin around the surgical area is covered, and all equipment used is sterile to reduce the risk of infection.

During your operation, you will be positioned in a way that allows the procedure to be carried out safely. You may feel soreness in other parts of your body than the area where you have had surgery. This is usually harmless and will go away within a few days after the operation.

If you have any problems affecting your muscles or joints, it is important that you tell the operating team before your operation.

Local anaesthesia

Only the part of your body where the operation is taking place is numbed. You are awake but will not feel pain.

More information about local anaesthesia (peripheral nerve blocks)

Sedation (relaxing medicine)

In some cases, you only need medicine to help you relax rather than anaesthesia. This is used for examinations and procedures that are not usually painful but may feel uncomfortable. Sedative medicines are often given through a cannula in your hand.

General anaesthesia

With general anaesthesia, you are deeply asleep and will not feel pain during your operation. Before you are given the anaesthetic medicine, you will breathe oxygen through a mask placed over your nose and mouth. The anaesthetic medicine is given through a cannula, and you will fall asleep quickly.

During the operation, you will continuously receive anaesthetic medicine, either directly into a vein or as a gas through the anaesthetic machine.

Regardless of the type of anaesthesia you receive, an anaesthetic team will always be present to look after you before, during and after your operation.

More information about general anaesthesia

Spinal anaesthesia

A local anaesthetic is injected through a thin needle between two of the vertebrae in your spine. You will not be able to move your legs and will not feel pain, but you may still feel touch.

The anaesthetic usually lasts for 2–5 hours and is often used for knee and hip operations, as well as some gynaecological and urological procedures.

Spinal anaesthesia can often be combined with sedative and relaxing medicines. Most people find this to be a comfortable form of anaesthesia.

Epidural anaesthesia

A thin catheter is inserted through a needle between two of the vertebrae in your spine. Pain-relieving medicine can be given through the catheter during and after your operation.

Epidural anaesthesia can be used on its own or together with general anaesthesia for larger operations. For major surgery, this type of anaesthesia may be used to provide pain relief after the operation.

There are also other types of regional anaesthesia where only the area being operated on is numbed. If this is relevant for you, the anaesthetist will explain this to you.

More information about epidural anaesthesia

Combined anaesthesia

Sometimes it is helpful to use a combination of the methods described above. This is often done to make the time after your operation more comfortable.

We are always cautious about giving blood transfusions. However, if we consider a blood transfusion necessary for you, you will be given one.

The blood you receive is carefully tested to ensure that it does not contain infections and that it is the same blood type as yours.

If you do not wish to receive a blood transfusion for religious or other reasons, you must let us know well before your operation. We will discuss this with you and try to find a suitable solution.

After general anaesthesia, you may feel tired and it can be difficult to remember information that is given to you. The doctor will therefore usually provide information about the procedure after you have returned to the ward.

If your close relatives call the recovery ward, the nurses cannot give information about the procedure because you, as the patient, must always be informed first. They can answer general questions about how you are feeling after the operation.

People experience pain differently, and different procedures cause different levels of pain. You will be given pain relief when you need it, depending on the type of procedure you have and the type of anaesthesia used. Our aim is for you to experience only mild pain after your operation.

Pain relief tablets are usually the best option. Most people are given pain relief tablets before their operation, and many will continue taking them afterwards.

It is common to give additional pain relief through a cannula during the first period after your operation. This works quickly.

It is important that you tell us how you are feeling so that we can provide the pain relief you need. For larger operations, we often use an epidural for pain relief. Pain-relieving medicine is then given continuously through a thin catheter placed in your back. If you receive this type of pain relief, the epidural catheter will usually remain in place for the first few days after your operation.

Patients who have had epidural or spinal anaesthesia may find it difficult to feel the need to pass urine, even when the bladder is filling.

Most patients will have their bladder checked using an ultrasound scanner to assess whether it needs to be emptied.

It is common to feel thirsty when you wake up after your operation, and most people are allowed to drink water after a short while.

If you have had general anaesthesia, it is not unusual to have a sore throat during the first few hours after your operation. This is harmless and will go away after a short time.

Some patients feel nauseous after general anaesthesia, but nausea can also be caused by other factors.

If this happens, you will be given anti-sickness medicine.

If you have felt nauseous after previous general anaesthetics, or if you are prone to feeling sick (for example, if you get travel sick), it is important that you tell the anaesthetic nurse or anaesthetist.

You will then be given anti-sickness medicine to help prevent nausea.

The type and extent of your operation, as well as the type of anaesthesia you have received, will determine how long you need to be monitored.

Most patients stay in the recovery ward for one to two hours before they are transferred back to the ward.

Some patients need monitoring until the following day. This is assessed by the anaesthetist responsible for your care while you are in the recovery ward.

Etter en operasjon og narkose trenger du ro og hvile. Derfor tar vi vanligvis ikke imot besøkende på oppvåkningsavdelingen. Du ligger også sammen med andre nyopererte som har behov for ro og hvile. Barn kan ha en av foreldrene/foresatte hos seg.​​

Side effects are unwanted effects of medicines or treatments that occur in addition to the effects we want to achieve.

Almost all medicines have side effects to varying degrees. They are often expected and sometimes impossible to avoid.

Some side effects go away on their own, while others can be treated.

Examples include an allergic reaction to a medicine or damage to teeth during general anaesthesia.

Common complications/side effects

• Nausea and vomiting
• Sore throat
• Dizziness and blurred vision
• Shivering
• Headache
• Itching
• Sore and stiff muscles
• Back pain
• Temporary pain when medicine is injected
• Confusion

Rare complications/side effects

• Lung infections
• Difficulty passing urine
• Dry and sore eyes after the operation
• Dental injuries

Very rare complications/side effects

• Nerve damage
• Severe allergic reaction to medicine
• Failure of technical equipment
• Death

Deaths caused by anaesthesia are extremely rare.