Patient Information
Basic Facts About Ear Surgery
The majority of our patients will have their surgery as an outpatient day surgery procedure. The patient will come into the hospital day surgery unit and check in.
The night prior to your surgery you should not eat or drink anything after midnight. If your surgery is in the afternoon, it is permissible to have a liquid breakfast including coffee or tea before 8:00 a.m. Although it is hard to wait a half-day for surgery without taking anything orally, this ensures that your stomach will be empty. This makes undergoing general anesthesia much safer and you may experience less nausea after surgery.
The surgery requires general anesthetic which means you will be asleep and feel nothing during your procedure. This requires that the anesthesiologist put a breathing tube in your throat to protect your airway during surgery. A general anesthetic is actually much safer than having surgery under IV sedation, contrary to what most patients believe. The delicate nature of ear surgery requires there be no chance that a patient would move about during surgery.
After your surgery is complete you will be in the recovery room for forty-five minutes to an hour and then in the post-anesthesia recovery room for approximatley an hour. There are discharge criteria which you will have to achieve prior to being discharged. You will need to make arrangements to have someone drive you home.
For your convenience, below you will find forms that you may wish to download and complete prior to your scheduled appointment.
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact one of our Patient Care Team at 1-800-693-6732