Preparing for Surgery
The questions patients forget to ask before surgery: fasting rules, which medications to stop and when, how to prepare your home, what to pack, and what to ask your surgeon. All based on published clinical guidelines.
Based on NHS pre-operative guidance, healthdirect, and NICE surgical preparation guidelines.
These are general guidelines. Your surgical team’s specific instructions always take priority. Never stop heart, blood pressure, epilepsy, or psychiatric medications without explicit instruction.
| Medication | When to stop | Important note |
|---|---|---|
| Warfarin | 5 days before | Confirm with your surgical team: may need bridging therapy with enoxaparin. Never stop without instruction. |
| Apixaban (Eliquis), Rivaroxaban (Xarelto) | 48 hours before (longer for major surgery) | Confirm exact timing with your surgeon. Shorter half-life than warfarin but still significant. |
| Clopidogrel (Plavix) | 5–7 days before | If taken after a stent: do NOT stop without cardiology approval. Stopping prematurely risks stent thrombosis. |
| Aspirin | 7 days before (elective surgery) | If taken for cardiac protection after stent or heart attack. Do NOT stop without cardiologist approval. |
| Ibuprofen, naproxen, diclofenac (NSAIDs) | 7 days before | Affect platelet function and increase bleeding risk. Paracetamol is safe to continue. |
| Vitamin E, fish oil, garlic supplements | 7–10 days before | All increase bleeding risk. Often overlooked: tell your surgical team about all supplements. |
| Metformin | 24–48 hours before (some surgeons request day before) | Risk of lactic acidosis with contrast dye or prolonged fasting. Confirm with your surgical team. |
| GLP-1 agonists (Ozempic, Wegovy, Victoza) | 1 week before (weekly injection) or day before (daily) | Slow gastric emptying: significantly increases aspiration risk. Your anaesthetist needs to know if you take these. |
| Herbal supplements (St John’s Wort, ginkgo, ginseng) | 7–14 days before | Interact with anaesthetic agents and increase bleeding. Disclose all herbal supplements at pre-op assessment. |
| Oral contraceptive pill | 4 weeks before major surgery (not needed for minor) | Increases DVT risk with prolonged immobility. Discuss with your GP and surgeon specifically. |
Do this before admission — not when you get home in pain. Tick each one off as you go.
Take a photo of your wound each day. The ghost overlay lines up your previous photo so you can spot changes. Drag the reveal slider to compare before and after. Bring the photos to your next appointment. If something looks off, try our wound symptom checker.
100% private. Photos stay on your device. Nothing uploaded.
📷 Open wound photo journal →Your recovery toolkit
Free interactive tools to track your recovery day by day. Everything stays on your device — nothing is uploaded or shared.
These tools support — never replace — the advice of your surgical team. If something feels wrong, contact your doctor or emergency services.