- Pre-Operative Care
- Post-Operative Care
- Pre-Admitting Instructions
- Imaging
Adults
You will need to have nothing to eat or drink after midnight prior to your scheduled surgery. You may take your medications with a small sip of water in the morning. Please notify Dr. Lim if you are taking Aspirin, Plavix or other blood thinners. These medications need to be held for 5-7 days prior to your surgery.
Children
Your child needs to have NOTHING by mouth for 2 hours prior to surgery. Clear liquids (such as water or apple juice without pulp) can be given up to 4 hours prior to surgery. A regular meal, baby formula or breast milk can be given up to 6 hours prior to surgery.
FAILURE TO FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS WILL RESULT IN CANCELLATION OF SURGERY.
Sometimes cancellation of surgery can occur at the last minute and your surgery time can be moved up. For patients scheduled for afternoon, do not feed your child if you wish to have the surgery be considered for being moved up.
For children, please call to verify the time and place of surgery at least 2 days before the scheduled procedure. Failure to confirm with our office WILL result in cancellation of surgery.
Post-Operative Care
Please feel free to call our office at 713-830-9100 if your procedure is not listed below or if you have any further questions or concerns.
Procedure:
After a circumcision done at a surgery center or outpatient surgery of a hospital, a dressing will be applied to the circumcised penis. This dressing should be kept for approximately 12 to 24 hours, usually just overnight. The dressing should be removed the following day. If there is any oozing of blood from the circumcision site, then gentle pressure should be applied with a gauze or tissue paper for about 5 minutes. Most bleeding stops with gentle pressure. Please apply a salve of antibiotic ointment twice a day, morning and evening before retiring to bed for about a week.
For those infants who undergo a circumcision in this office, your son will have a “ring” on the circumcision site, which is how the so called “plastibell” circumcision is done. Please do your best to keep the circumcision site clean particularly if your son has a bowel movement. It is okay to use baby wipes or a gentle moistened wash cloth to remove any fecal materials from the circumcision site. Applying an antibiotic ointment helps to create an additional barrier against infective bacteria. The “ring” generally falls off in 5 to 7 days. If the ring is still on after 7 days, please contact the office to be seen. The ring will then be removed so as to not cause any damage.
After a vasectomy, please support the scrotum with either briefs/boxer briefs, underwear, or a jock-strap for about 5 days. The stitch should dissolve over time naturally. If the stitch is still present after about 10 days and it is bothersome, the stitch can be removed for you. Minor bruising of the skin around the vasectomy site is not unusual. If there is swelling to the point that there is a size change of the scrotum, there could be formation of a blood clot either near the vasectomy or inside the scrotum in general. In rare situations, removal of the blood clot and ligation (tying off) of the bleeding vessels may be necessary. To avoid any infection, Dr. Lim routinely recommends taking an antibiotic for about 7 days. Dr. Lim offers a semen check to make sure that the operation worked to eliminate sperms from semen after about 10 “protected” ejaculations.
A dressing is left along with a urethral tube called a “stent” that acts as a framework onto which the urethra is reconstructed. Dr. Lim usually likes for the dressing to be removed by himself on the first day after the operation. This is to make sure that there has not been any complication after the procedure. The urethral stent is then removed approximately one week after surgery. A follow up visit in about 3 months is recommended for a final check up.
Pre-Admitting Instructions
Depending on which hospital you choose for your surgery, you will need to pre-register with the hospital. The following is a list of phone numbers you can call to pre-register.
- Memorial Hermann - Memorial City Hospital: 713-242-3880
- Cypress Fairbanks Medical Center: 281-897-3131
- Texas Children’s Hospital: 832-824-5720
- Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital: 713-704-3463
- Christus St. Catherine Hospital: 281-599-4422
- North Cypress Medical Center: 832-912-3965
If your hospital is not on this list, please call our office.
Imaging
If you need any type of imaging, Dr. Lim will first need to order the appropriate study.
The most frequently ordered imaging are the following:
- Abdominal X-ray (KUB)
- CT scan
- Intravenous Pyelogram (IVP)
- Ultrasounds
Our office staff will contact you to schedule your imaging studies. Unless Dr. Lim orders your test as a STAT, we will need time to check on pre-authorizations from your insurance company before it can be scheduled. Deductibles and copays may apply.
The information provided herein should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed physician should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. Call 911 for all medical emergencies. Links to other sites are provided for information only -- they do not constitute endorsements of those other sites.