What To Expect: Before And After Surgery

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ADMISSION DAY

When you arrive and check in, the nurses will ask you a few more questions in order to fill out paperwork and complete the admission process. You will get a hospital gown and slippers to wear and an IV (intravenous catheter) will be started. You'll have the IV from that point until a few days after the surgery.

From there, you'll meet your operating nurse and anesthesiologist and you will be prepared for surgery.

SPINAL CORD MONITORING DURING SURGERY
Your doctor will use spinal cord monitoring to tell how well your spinal cord is communicating messages to your brain. Just before your surgery another type of doctor, a neurophysiologist, will place electrodes on various parts of your body, which will monitor the brain and/or spinal cord reaction to stimulation. During the operation, the neurophysiologist will monitor the nerves in question carefully and the report the responses to your surgeon. The monitoring will take place before, during, and shortly after your surgery to provide a full measurement of your nerve responses to your physician.

Back to: "PREOPERATIVE EVALUATION"

Next: "AFTER YOUR SURGERY"