Perioperative Management: What You Need to Know Before, During, and After Surgery

When you’re facing surgery, perioperative management, the coordinated care plan covering the time before, during, and after surgery. It’s not just about the operation itself—it’s about making sure your body is ready, your medications are safe, and your recovery goes as smoothly as possible. Many people think surgery ends when the lights go off, but the real work begins the moment you walk into the hospital—and it doesn’t stop until you’re back on your feet.

Preoperative preparation, the steps taken before surgery to reduce complications is where most mistakes happen. Stopping blood thinners too late, not managing diabetes, or ignoring sleep apnea can turn a routine procedure into a crisis. Doctors now check for things like kidney function, heart health, and even your medication list—not just your surgical site. One study found that patients who had a full pre-op review were 40% less likely to end up back in the hospital after surgery. And it’s not just about drugs. Fasting rules, breathing exercises, and even mental readiness matter. If you’re on long-term meds like levothyroxine or PPIs, timing matters. If you use CPAP for sleep apnea, bringing your machine to the hospital isn’t optional—it’s life-saving.

Intraoperative care, the actions taken during surgery to ensure safety and stability is where teams rely on checklists, real-time monitoring, and clear communication. It’s not just the anesthesiologist watching your vitals—it’s the whole team tracking fluid balance, drug interactions, and signs of unexpected reactions. For example, mixing methadone with certain heart meds can trigger dangerous rhythms. Or, if you’re on an MAOI for depression, even an over-the-counter cold medicine could cause a hypertensive crisis. These aren’t rare edge cases—they’re documented risks that perioperative teams are trained to spot before they become emergencies.

And then comes postoperative recovery, the critical phase where most complications arise. Pain control, infection prevention, and managing side effects like nausea or confusion aren’t afterthoughts—they’re the core of recovery. Elderly patients with kidney issues are especially at risk. A standard dose of NSAIDs or an antibiotic might build up to toxic levels if their kidneys can’t clear it. That’s why dosing adjustments aren’t optional—they’re mandatory. Even mild side effects like dry mouth from anticholinergics or mood swings from steroids can derail healing if ignored. And if you’ve ever had a bad reaction to a generic drug, you’re not alone. Some patients worry about substitution, but the real danger isn’t the pill—it’s the lack of clear communication between your surgeon, pharmacist, and primary doctor.

Perioperative management isn’t a checklist. It’s a conversation. Between you and your care team. Between your medications and your body. Between what’s written on paper and what actually happens in the OR and recovery room. The posts below dive into the details: how to handle drug interactions before surgery, why batch testing matters for your meds, how kidney function changes dosing, and what to do if bleeding or confusion shows up after you go home. This isn’t theory. It’s what keeps people alive and out of the ER after surgery.