Question about preoperative medication

[msteresa97]

I have to do a research surgical paper and there is a question that I can not answer. The question is: If a sedative or pain medication were given through the night, when would the medications be given in relation to the preoperative medication?

Could someone help me with this question and give me a rationale why?

Thanks, all is appreciated

[TazziRN, RN]

Depends on what pre-op med is ordered and how it's related to what's been given through the night.

[confused101]

are they talking about sedative meds like versed or something else???

[msteresa97]

The paper does not state what kind of sedative or pain medication was taken through the night. I'm going to assume that the medications gie through the night are the same that are to be given preoperative.

[Dolce, RN]

Pre-op medications have a certain time frame that they have to be given within. For instance, Ancef needs to be infused 30 minutes to 1 hour prior to incision. Other antibiotics have other time frames but the point is that they need to be given at a specific time, not just simply throughout the night before surgery. Versed is the same way, it is given usually about a half hour prior to incision time. This gives everyone time to interview the patient when they are fully awake and aware, make sure the surgical consent is signed, etc. The only medication that I can think that would be given through the night before surgery but still be a pre-op med is a scopolamine patch. Scopolamine patches are placed behind the ear and prevent post-op nausea and vomiting. The longer they have been on prior to surgery the better they work afterwards.

[Altra, BSN, RN]

Do you have to address the question exactly as it was worded in your paper? Because unfortunately it's so vague as to be meaningless.

Maybe you could research common pre-op meds for a common procedure and use that scenario as an example. You'll need to consider the time of onset of the med(s), half-life, etc.