For patients facing surgery, one expert has a simple piece of advice: ask questions.
In fact, Dr. Robert Cima a surgeon and chair of the Mayo Clinic's surgical quality subcommittee argues that there are no wrong queries when it comes to quizzing your physician about the implications of an impending procedure.
The goal? To get whatever information you need to feel as comfortable as possible with a decision to move forward with a surgical intervention.
Dr. Cima does, however, propose that patients seek out 5 particular points of clarification:
- Ask your surgeon if he or she is board-certified to perform the specific operation at hand
- See if losing weight pre-operation might be helpful
- Discuss how kicking a cigarette habit might reduce the risk for surgical complications
- Inquire about the surgical implications of having sleep apnea
- And lastly find out about any less invasive surgical alternatives while also soliciting advice about risk-reducing steps you can take beforehand, to ensure that the coming hospital stay will be as short and sweet as possible.
I'm Dr Cindy Haines of HealthDay TV, with the news that doctors are reading – health news that matters to you.
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