During Surgery

The time you spend in surgery is known as the intraoperative period. A special surgical team helps the surgeon with your surgery. This team usually includes:

• A surgical technician (scrub), who passes instruments to the surgeon. Your surgeon may also have an office assistant who regularly helps in surgery.
• A registered nurse, who helps in many ways and writes the details of your surgery in your medical chart.
• A nurse anesthetist or anesthesiologist, who gives you medicines and monitors your vital signs.
• Other medical personnel, such as an X-ray technologist, who may be needed for your surgery.
• Another surgeon to help your primary surgeon, if needed.

In university or teaching hospitals, doctors with different levels of surgical training may watch or help with your surgery. But your surgeon will be in charge.

The surgical team is trained to provide you with safe care during your surgery. The team members will do a safety check (safety pause) before starting your surgery.

If you are having general anesthesia, a breathing tube (endotracheal tube) is placed in your windpipe or a special airway (laryngeal mask airway, or LMA) is placed in the back of your throat to help you breathe during the surgery. For more information on anesthesia, see the topic Anesthesia.

The place on your skin where the incision will be is washed with a special solution to remove bacteria. All instruments used during your surgery are sterilized to reduce your risk of infection.

Pain control is also an important concern. Near the end of your surgery, your surgeon may inject a long-acting pain medicine at the site of your surgery to decrease your pain for 6 to 12 hours after surgery.