We recognize that the day of surgery can be stressful for both the patient and the family. In preparation for surgery, your child may have been asked to follow a special diet for the preceding 24 hours. It is important to follow these instructions closely to help ensure the success of the operation.

During surgery, the patient is given anesthesia so that he or she is completely unaware of the operation. For the safety of the child, we ask that you follow strict feeding instructions on the day of surgery. These are called “NPO” instructions and follow a 2 – 4 – 6 – 8 hour rule:

• The child may have clear liquids up until 2 hours prior to your arrival time. Pedialyte, apple juice, water, and Gatorade are considered clear liquids. Orange juice and milk products are not clear liquids.
• The child may have breast milk up until 4 hours prior to your arrival time.
• The child may have formula up until 6 hours prior to your arrival time.
• The child may have solid food including regular milk up until 8 hours prior to your arrival time. Baby food and rice-cereal are considered solids.
• On the morning of surgery, the operating room nurses will ask you about the last thing your child ate or drank. For the safety of your child, surgery will be delayed or canceled if the
  2 – 4 – 6 – 8 hour rule is not followed.

We perform surgery on the second floor of the Women’s and Children’s Hospital at Centennial. We ask that you arrive at the hospital 2 hours prior to your scheduled surgery time. You may park in the lots located across from the entrance of the Women’s and Children’s hospital on Murphy Avenue. Once in the hospital, proceed to the second floor and follow the signs to “EMA” (Early Morning Admission). It is here that you will be checked-in and taken back to one of the pre-op holding rooms. Please feel free to dress your child in whatever makes them most comfortable and bring along any blankets, stuffed animals or electronic games that puts your child at ease.

Once in the holding room, you will meet a lot of new people and fill out a lot of paperwork. Each of these people is a member of our team and plays an integral role in the peri-operative process. You will have a chance to meet the OR-nurse who can answer many of your questions. Children younger than 13-years old do not usually have an IV placed while they are awake. Instead, they are first taken to the operating room where they will inhale anesthesia “gas” to go to sleep before having their IV placed. For children older than 13 and in some special circumstances, we will place an IV in the holding room.

In the holding room, you will also have the opportunity to meet our Pediatric Anesthesia Team. These are the physicians and practitioners who provide the general anesthesia during the operation. They will explain the process and give you the opportunity to ask questions. Sometimes the anesthesiologist will give your child a mild sedative to take by mouth to ease his or her anxiety when going back to the operating room.

Your Pediatric Surgeon will also see you before the operation to review the procedure and answer any last minute questions. We will have you sign a consent form stating that you give your permission for your child to have surgery. While each procedure is unique, we will try to estimate how long your child will be in the operating room. Our OR-nurse will call to give you updates approximately every hour. Once the operation is finished, the surgeon will review your child’s case with you and answer your questions. After this, and at the direction of the recovery room personnel, you may visit your child in the recovery room. Some children will be able to go home once they have completely recovered from the anesthesia; others may be required to stay in the hospital for various reasons. This will be determined by the surgeon and the anesthesiologist. We typically see most patients in the office for a check-up 2-4 weeks after the operation.