What may I expect to happen when I arrive at the hospital for my hysterectomy?

The procedures may be slightly different with each hospital. In general, you will go first to the admission department of the hospital where your insurance information and ability to pay for your hospital stay will be verified. From there you will be taken to the preoperative area, which is usually on the same floor as the surgical or operating rooms.

In the preoperative area, you will be asked to state your doctor’s name and the proposed surgical procedure you will be undergoing. You will then be asked to sign a consent form, which ensures that the hospital and your doctor have your legal and informed permission to perform the surgery.

The staff at the hospital will identify themselves to you and will explain what their respective duties are. You will then be asked, in an appropriately private location, to change into a hospital gown furnished by the staff. Next, the anesthesiologist usually introduces himself or herself to you and fully explains what type of anesthesia will be used. Your questions and concerns about the anesthesia should be discussed at this time. Your surgeon will be present at this time and will be available for any questions that may arise.

The anesthesiologist will then start an intravenous line (IV) in one of your arms. You may receive some preoperative antibiotics intravenously at this point.

You will then be transported, usually in a gurney (mobile bed) to the operating room. Attending to you in the operating room will be your doctor, an assistant surgeon (if needed), the anesthesiologist, and at least two nurses. You will then be placed on the operating table, which may resemble a narrow bedlike structure.

At this point, a number of monitoring devices will be attached, painlessly, to you. These generally include:

• A blood pressure cuff,
• A pulse oximeter, which measures the amount of oxygen you are utilizing, and
• A cardiac monitor to constantly evaluate the activity of your heart.

The anesthesiologist will then administer medication intravenously to put you to sleep and will inform the surgical team when you have been adequately anesthetized.

An indwelling catheter (Foley catheter) will then be inserted through your urethra into the bladder. This catheter will be left in place throughout the surgical procedure for three basic reasons:

1. To keep the bladder deflated (empty), thereby reducing the risk of surgical injury to the bladder
2. To keep the bladder as small as possible to prevent blocking the surgeon’s view during the operation
3. To indicate to the surgical team, through the constant draining of urine, how well your kidneys are functioning during the operation The area on your body, through which the surgery will be performed (i.e., the abdomen and/or the vagina), will then be meticulously washed with special cleaning solutions in order to achieve a sterile surgical field.

The surgeon, dressed in sterile surgical gown and gloves, will then place sterile drapes over the proposed surgical area. Then the surgical procedure will begin.

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