Preparing for surgery and anaesthesia

It’s important that your child’s hair and body are clean before surgery to help minimise the risk of infection.

Before coming to hospital, we ask that you please bathe your child, ensuring that their:

• Hair is clean and free of head lice. If your child has head lice, please treat as necessary.
• Fingernails and toenails are clean and free of any nail polish. Nail polish can interfere with pulse monitoring.
• Face is clean and free of any make-up or jewellery, including earrings and piercings.

All children, including babies, should have an empty stomach before their medical procedure or surgery. This is a normal part of preparing for anaesthesia.

This means your child may need to fast (not eat or drink) for a period of time before coming to the hospital.

Fasting instructions vary depending on the type of surgery and the hospital. Always follow the instructions given by your doctor or anaesthetist.

Learn more on our fasting webpage.

Clean clothes are important to minimise the risk of infection while your child stays in hospital.

On the day of surgery, we ask that you dress your child in clean pyjamas or other comfy clothes. Please also remove any jewellery or anything that contains metal like metal hair clips or elastics.

If your child wears a nappy, please change their nappy before surgery as well.

Depending on the type of surgery, your child may need to stop or change medications in the weeks leading up to surgery.

Changing certain medications and supplements

If your child regularly takes Aspirin® (acetylsalicylic acid), Nurofen® (ibuprofen), or fish oil supplements, please check with your doctor to see if you need to stop taking these in the weeks before surgery. Depending on the type of surgery, some medications can increase the risk of bleeding.

For pain relief, paracetamol (e.g., Panadol®) is generally safe to use.

Continue regular medications

Your child should take their usual medications and puffers on the day of surgery unless advised otherwise by a nurse or doctor.

If necessary, oral medications can be taken before surgery with a small sip of water.

If your child has been exposed to an infectious disease or is feeling sick, you may need to organise a new surgery date.

Please call the number on your admission letter or the hospital switchboard if your child or a close family member has any of the following:

Fever, diarrhoea or vomiting

• Measles
• Shingles
• Chicken pox
• Chest infection
• Whooping cough

Hospital switchboard phone numbers:

• The Children’s Hospital at Westmead: (02) 7825 0000
• Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick: (02) 9382 1111

Depending on the type of surgery, you might want to bring more or less things to hospital. In general, you would need to bring your:

• Hospital admission forms and or letter
• Medicare card
• Regular medications and or toiletries
• A change of spare clothes
• A favourite toy or comfort object
• Something to do (like a colouring book, board game, gaming console or book)

If you are staying overnight, please see our hospital handbook for inpatients.