Pre-assessment for a hysteroscopy? Why?

[AuldJosey]

Apparently I've to have one of these Friday to see whether I'm fit to go through the hysteroscopy.
Can anyone tell me what that involves? BP? Bloods?

I just fail to see the reason for a bloomin test about a test!

It's inconvenient because I'm really unwell.

They usually get you to do swabs to check you’ve not got mrsa too.

Whilst it feels inconvenient it is important. They can't treat you without going through this pre-assessment, and you've have exactly the same even if you went private.

It's for your safety so grumpy or not I'm afraid you need it.

I hope everything goes smoothly.

They check you are fit for GA but more importantly swab you for MRSA & make sure you won't bring bugs in with you 😀

Maybe if your really unwell, now’s not the right time for the procedure.

Fuck sake woman. I suppose you could just rock up on op day and potentially die under anaesthetic. There. Does that sound any better?

Stop fucking moaning and be very grateful for the care and attention being paid to your health.

Its to generally prepare you for what they are doing but also check your health and medications so they can make sure there is nothing of note, do normal checks on BP, chest and so on so breathing is not impacted and make sure you understand for e.g. if one med needs to stop or you need to take something else in the interim.

Yesterday you were complaining that the consultant had your notes at your appointment. Now this. The continuing moaning about normal procedure necessary to look after your health is ridiculous. Surely you can’t be oblivious to the fact that it is all for your own benefit? I’m really starting to feel for the people looking after you.

I would tend to trust that the medical professionals, on the whole, know what they are doing and given the financial constraints of the health service, would not offer an appointment for no reason.

Stop being a moron, OP.

Completely unreasonable of you to moan about this. A pre-assessment is exactly that - they pre-assess you for your fitness to undergo surgery. Not just height and weight, BP etc, but a chance to ask you about your previous medical history, allergy status, ability to fast before the procedure etc. All this to avoid cancelling you on the day of your surgery, after you've fasted since midnight and -shock horror- had to arrive for 7am, if they do detect a serious contraindication to you undergoing a general anaesthetic then.

If travelling to the hospital is inconvenient for you because you are unwell, then it may actually be that you are too unwell to have the procedure itself.

I had this earlier in the year. Depending on your age and medical history they do height, weight, b/p, ecg & swabs for MRSA and another infection I’ve forgotten the name of. They take you through what’s going to happen and talk about any other health issues. My b/p was slightly raised so I had a course of medication before the procedure to lower it.
Re the 7am time - my hospital had a morning & afternoon list for the hysteroscopy; the morning list starts at 9. Before you go into theatre they will do b/p checks, urine test and the anaesthesist will come and talk to you as will the person doing the procedure.
It sounds like a faff but it is for your safety and it all seems over very quickly.

Was it necessary to call me a moron?

I was told there's no pm list. Just a morning list.

Frankly, it's so you don't die during the procedure, as that's not very nice for you and terribly inconvenient for everybody else.

You are needed there, as your weight, blood results, pulse, blood pressure and lung sounds aren't guaranteed to be the same as when you went on the list. Your file can't say whether you've got symptoms of a chest infection, MRSA or C-Diff. They have to see you to make sure you are physically fit to have the procedure.

No pre-op approval, no op. Simple as that.

It's not a fucking op.

It's for the anaesthetic. Yeah it sucks but it's usually fairly quick and it needs to be done. I didn't really enjoy dragging myself to hospital with one working leg for it before my spinal op but they won't do the procedure if they haven't done it
It was about 30 mins for me and I have a complex medical history

It's a pre-op and is totally normal and a requirement for any surgery involving GA

And a hysteroscopy could involve biopsy which IS surgery Op... But yeah. Fuck doctors doing their job properly, right 🤷

You been on the sherry or the oramorph OP?

They'll also cross match bloods. You know. So they can be prepared in case something happens and you need blood.
They'll also give you meds to be taken so you don't aspirate. You know. Boring stuff like that.

There are a number of reasons for pre-assessment appointments that are both for your benefit as an individual and the hospital’s benefit as an organisation trying to coordinate more than one person’s care.

There must be a reason they’re planning to do it under anaesthesia in theatre rather than awake in an outpatient setting so it is indeed counted as an operation.

As others have suggested, the appointment allows an opportunity to identify any potential issues re. anaesthesia - if you really are unwell then this may allow a short period of pre-optimisation if there’s anything that can be improved before the anaesthetic or it may allow the anaesthetist to consider exactly how they think it’d be safest to proceed (there are many different ways of doing the anaesthetic). Having seen your other thread, even from the little bit of info there I can think of a number of things I’d want to know were optimised before cracking on with an anaesthetic (either spinal/GA/sedation).

Checking your BP before the day of surgery is useful as it’s likely to be more representative of your normal BP than on the day of surgery. Depending on your normal medications you’ll likely need bloods checking and possibly an ECG. There may also be advice about whether some things need stopping /reduced doses etc. Doing these ahead of the day of surgery means you’re less likely to get postponed on the day of surgery.

While it may be frustrating to have to splash out cash on a taxi for pre-assessment, am pretty sure it’ll be more irritating to get cancelled on the day having fasted & arranged care/days off work or whatever because issues that could have been highlighted pre-op weren’t.

(DOI...I am an anaesthetist).

They will weigh you, measure you, take your blood pressure and blood tests. I know it's a ball ache but it's just to make sure you're fit enough for surgery. Some people need more anaesthetic due to size or may need to lose weight before surgery. My pre-ops have never lasted more than half hour.

From my understanding I'll be an outpatient. I was given the choice of anaesthetic or not - I opted for.

My BMI is about 19. Unless I'm going to put on 4 stone in a few days, I don't think it's an issue.
I'm just trying to ask a question. I don't need the castigation or ridicule. I'm sick and I'm worried. It's not just tootling over to the hospital. It's a massive thing for me. So I was just asking could they not do it straight before the blooming thing.