This leaflet answers common questions about pre-op instructions for pain management injections. If you would like further information, or have any worries, please do not hesitate to ask your nurse or doctor.

On the day of the procedure

Procedure date

The Admissions team will contact you and offer two reasonable dates. Please try to keep the agreed date. Please give us at least one week’s notice if you have no option but to cancel. If you do not attend and do not inform us in advance, you will likely be removed from the list.

Pre-op call

The day surgery nurses will call you around one to two weeks before your appointment to discuss any changes in your health/medications (for example, do you have a new/worsening health condition, or have your medications been changed with new doses or different drugs) and give further advice.

If important new information about a change in health or medications is not disclosed, it may lead to your cancellation of the procedure day. If you have any queries about this, please contact us using the details below.

Read your clinic letter

Do read your management plan in your clinic letter. It will have important advice or instructions about your case that you may need to follow (eg if any other specialist opinions are needed prior to the injection).

On the day of the procedure

Location

Hadley Wood Hospital, 52 Moxon Street, Barnet, EN5 5TS.

Fasting: food

You can eat solid food up to six hours before your given admission time. This includes biscuits, tea/coffee with milk, chewing gum, smoothies etc. Please note quantity does not matter.

Fasting: fluids

You can drink clear fluids (such as water, black tea/coffee) up to two hours before admission. For example:

  • If you are a morning procedure list starting at 8am, stop solid food by 2am and clear fluids by 6am.
  • If you are an afternoon procedure list starting at 12.30pm, stop solid food by 6.30am and clear fluids by 10.30am.

Driving

Please do not drive to the hospital yourself. This is because you may be sedated or have some residual numbness after the procedure, so it is not safe. Someone needs to drop and pick you up. Ideally, this should be a relative or friend who can assist and observe you after the procedure.

A taxi is possible in some cases, but this will need to be discussed with your pain doctor. Failure to make proper travel arrangements may result in you being cancelled on the day. Of note, there is free parking in the hospital carpark.

Expected time

Please expect to be in hospital for up to four hours depending on your place on the list (decided by consultant on the day).

Stopping medications

Blood thinners (eg aspirin, warfarin, clopidogrel, apixaban, edoxaban, rivaroxaban, ticagrelor, dabigatran) may need to be stopped prior to the injections. Duration varies based on the medication.

Please also check this with the team. If you have remained on the medication(s) on the day of the injection, it may mean postponing your procedure.

If you are on any of these medications, please check your clinic letter for specific advice about when to stop or check with the day surgery nurses who will call you for the ‘preop call’. Some procedures may also need ‘non-steroidals (NSAIDS)’ such as naproxen, diclofenac, and ibuprofen to be stopped for five days.

Consent

On the day of the procedure, your consultant will see you before the procedure to gain your permission to proceed. This involves explanation of the injection(s) and the potential benefits and risks. This is the time to ask any questions or relay any concerns you may have. You will then sign the form together. Of note, this is not binding and at any point, you can withdraw consent.