Even before an anaesthetic for an operation (OP) or a local anaesthetic at the dentist, patients should know a few things. Doctors say that the following applies in general: Reactivity can be worse, especially when driving or cycling. For this reason, doctors recommend that patients be driven home after the treatment. This also applies if patients are given drops by the ophthalmologist to dilate the pupils. Doctors’ and dentists’ surgeries or clinics usually provide verbal or written information about the correct behaviour after anaesthesia.
For example, a leaflet for patients at a dental practice in the district of Tübingen states: After a local anaesthetic, you should not eat anything or drink anything hot until the anaesthetic has worn off. On the day of the treatment, patients should not do any sports or smoke. They should also smoke as little as possible for a fortnight after the anaesthetic, because nicotine delays the healing of the wound.
Patients are also informed about the correct behaviour after anaesthesia in a conversation before an operation in a clinic. They are told until when they may eat what and what they may drink, how long they should stop smoking and drinking alcohol, which medicines they may still take and which they may no longer take. Contact lenses, jewellery and nail varnish must not be worn during surgery. Make-up and creams must also be avoided.
The University Clinic for Anaesthesiology in Tübingen, for example, provides information specifically on preparing for an operation at:
https://www.medizin.uni-tuebingen.de/de/das-klinikum/einrichtungen/kliniken/anaesthesie/perioperative-anaesthesie/anaesthesieambulanz#vorbereitung
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Kliniken in Tübingen. Foto: tünews INTERNATIONAL / Mostafa Elyasian.
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