Pre-Anaesthetic Services

Brisbane Hip Clinic offers a comprehensive range of pre-anaesthetic assessment and management services to help you prepare for your operation and achieve best possible post-surgical outcomes.

All surgical procedures and anaesthetic interventions carry an element of risk. Your overall health status, underlying medical conditions and your general physical fitness significantly influence the chances of you achieving a successful outcome and minimising the risk of complications associated with your procedure.

Optimal preparation for your anaesthetic involves two main steps – assessment and management.

Pre-anaesthetic assessment involves an overall health evaluation with specific focus on medical conditions and physical fitness as it relates to anaesthesia. Assessment is best conducted well in advance of your operation to allow further evaluations or health optimisation if required. Examples of pre-anaesthetic assessments include consideration of medications you take, heart and lung conditions, airway and cervical spine mobility evaluation and obesity. Evaluation of blood tests, blood pressure, heart ECG, lung spirometry and other investigations are conducted where required. If you have a chronic health condition we may seek further information or advice from your General Practitioner or Specialist. If a significant health concern is identified, we will liaise early with your anaesthetist so they are made aware of your condition and to coordinate further care under their advice. The ultimate outcome of a pre-anaesthetic assessment is to provide your anaesthetist with all the information they require to deliver you best quality care.

Pre-anaesthetic management involves the treatment and optimisation of any longer term health conditions that impact upon your upcoming anaesthetic. Examples of this include iron supplementation for anaemia, blood sugar control for diabetes, weight loss for obesity, smoking cessation programs, physical conditioning and the administration of CPAP for people with obstructive sleep apnoea. The earlier you have these conditions evaluated, the longer you have to address these health concerns under the supervision of your health care providers. Where necessary, we will liaise with your General Practitioner or make appropriate referral for evaluation by a Specialist or other health care provider to optimise your health prior to surgery. We are also able to offer a range of pre-operative health management services in-house within our facility, including weight management, exercise physiology, physiotherapy, pain management and physical conditioning programs.

This information has been written by A/Prof Patrick Weinrauch for the purposes of patient education. The details provided are of general nature only and do not substitute for professional recommendations based on an individual clinical assessment. © A/Prof Patrick Weinrauch. Brisbane Hip Clinic.