A question I often am asked, is how long is surgery?
The short answer is about 90 minutes.
Patients will check in at our surgical desk when they arrive the morning of surgery. From there they will be brought back to the pre-operative holding area. In "pre-op" our nurses will start the process of checking you in.
In pre-op you will be given a few medications to help with pain and nausea. You will have an IV placed in your arm and sign some papers. I will come talk to you in the pre-op holding area and mark the site of the operation. This pre-op time is also when you receive your "spinal". This entire process lasts about an hour. From there you will be taken back to the operating room.
Surgery itself is about 90 minutes with a little bit of preparation time on each side. After surgery you will be taken to PACU, for post anesthesia care. You will be monitored in PACU for about an hour, and then go upstairs to the 3rd floor for the night.
