Pre-op testing

[Sugarnspice 150]

Hello everyone,

I have my first consultation next month. I would like some idea of what tests I might have to do. I.E.: sleep test , stress test ??? Please advise. Insurance I have Cigna open access plus

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Edited June 2, 2016 by lvfavy

[tiers4me 23]

It will depend on your doctor and health- but definitely and blood work, ekg, chest X-rays. Some require endoscopy and psych consult as well.

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[heidikat72 935]

I can tell you what I had to do, you may or may not need to do all of these.

1. Cardiac clearance - started with consult with a cardiologist and an ECG. Even though my ECG was normal, because of my high BMI and the fact that I wasn't very physically active, he also wanted an echocardiogram and a stress test before granting clearance (these two tests required another visit but were done together).

2. chest xray, abdominal ultrasound and upper GI (Barium swallow test) - all three done in one visit. My ultrasound report indicated a possible aortic aneurysm but didn't indicate size so my surgeon had me get an angiogram and consult with a vascular surgeon as follow up. another appointment for the angiogram and fortunately the vascular surgeon had an open slot right after my angiogram test in the same building so just one trip. Fortunately no aneurysm.

3. blood work - lots of tests so I think it was 5 or 6 vials of blood. my TSH came back high indicating possible thyroid problem so I had to have another blood draw to test specific thyroid function - fortunately those came back normal.

4. consult with pulmonogist, did a lung capacity test in that visit and he put in the request for the required sleep study. did the sleep study in the clinic a couple weeks later (had to get insurance pre-authorization and find an open slot in the clinic) and then the pulmonogist reviewed the report and made his recommendation.

5. psych evaluation

6. Hematologist consult - only required because of my very high BMI - surgeons protocol is to recommend insertion of an IVC filter to catch blood clots (and prevent possible PE) for patients with BMI over 50. My research on the filters didn't have me convinced that was a good option, so he sent me to a hematologist to go through my full history and see if and IVC filter was really necessary. Hematologist agreed with me and i'll just be doing lovanox injections twice a day for a couple weeks after surgery instead. Note: this was only required because of my very high BMI and me not automatically agreeing to the IVC filter.

So quite a bit and one test had a tendency to uncover something that required additional testing. So I recommend that once you get your scripts for the testing - start scheduling immediately in case you need additional follow up tests!

[Icantbelieveit 955]

What I had to do:

Endoscopy

Blood work

Basic ekg cardiac clearance

sleep study

6 month supervised weight loss

Numerous meetings with social worker and nutritionist

Documentation of weight for 3years prior

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[tobhappy&healthy 50]

My surg is 6/26.. My pre-op testing included:

Blood tests

Arterial blood gases

Stool sample (for h-pylori)

Ekg

Chest X-ray

Nutrition consult

Psych evaluation

Upper endoscopy

Cardiac clearance-echocardiogram

After all that then repeat blood test & ekg for pre-admission testing (approx 1 week before surg)

Hope this was helpful.

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[Sugarnspice 150]

Thanks for all the replies everyone ! Lots of info

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[ckrbaird 6]

I have Cigna Open Access Plus also. Some of your testing will be determined by Cigna and some by your surgeon based on your current health and what their standards are. I had an upper endoscopy, pH/manometry test, upper GI barium swallow, blood work, social worker consult, nutrition consult, sleep study, and 3 month provider supervised diet.

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