Fussy Surgeon

It's all to do with infection control , you cannot take a chance of germs entering any wounds, my surgeon and many others will not operate if you have even the tiniest scratch on your leg.

i was also advised that on the morning of surgery  to have a shower and use dettol soap and make sure my clothes were freshly laundered.

Infection control is so very important. Bacteria lurks in every nook and cranny. And the fitter we are, the better we recover. I guess, deep down we all understand their need and ours, for optimum results!

Hi he sounds like my kind of surgeon, if he cares about someone enough to be so fastidious about germ/bacteria control then he is showing he is doing the best he can for you and taking all the precautions he can to make sure your op goes well and that afterwards you will stand an excellent of being infection free which creates a great environment for you to healing.

Carrying excess weight means you have more body folds where bacteria can breed hence the possibility of it causing a problem, it's not always about the actual size of you, my consultant told me on Thursday the fitter you are the better your outcome will be, no disrespect to bigger people and it doesn't always equate that large means your unfit but it can probably why that ladies surgeon wanted her BMI down some.

The skin even when intact is home to millions of bacteria, many harmless commensals. Washing radically decreases the numbers but with a generation time of around 30 minutes the numbers soon rise again. A broken skin for any reason allows a focus of infection to form as the bacteria, or Candida oryeasts invade. Thus no surgeon worth his or her salt will operate, unless in an emergency, when the skin is not intact. Most will ask you to wash with an antibacterial soap or gel before you go to hospital on the day of the operation. I suspect the swabs you had were specifically for MRSA, a particular problem. 

Be thankful you were so checked. Some surgeons do this check themselves and in other hospitals the preop clinic staff will conduct such investigations

I had to use a special shower gel called Octenisan  for 5 nights and on the morning of my op. I needed fresh sheets, towel and clothes after every shower and every day for the duration too. It was hard work all that changing the bed and laudering everything (especially when my op was postponed 24 hours before on the first attempt so I had to do the whole palarver twice) but my consultant has fantastic results which was why I chose him. Also told not to shave my legs or get any cuts or scratches. Infection control is important in any operation but especially when a major joint is exposed. As for fitness I invested a lot of time and effort at the gym for the 5 months I was waiting for surgery getting as fit as possible and that really paid off too. If it’s elective surgery (rather than emergency) it makes sense to be as well prepared as possible. It was hard to exercise and get fit because of the bone on bone pain but with painkillers, determination and the support of the staff at the gym who were able to show me how to adapt exercises in line with what I could manage it was really worthwhile. My recovery has been great and I’m still exercising 2 hours a day Tues to Fri plus Yoga once a week and lots of walking on the days I don’t go to gym. I have a thyroid problem so if I don’t exercise I would gain a lot of weight which would not be good for my joints.  Good luck. 

Ann

Good morning Jen, I had to have peridontal treatment completed and letter sent to surgeon before he would do surgery. He also had me using special antibacterial soap for 5 minutes on the hip area the night and morning of surgery. They also tested me for mersa. The concern is infection getting in the blood stream and going to hip prosthesis.