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By Mayo Clinic staffYou'll need to refrain from eating or drinking anything for at least two hours before your surgery. Some anesthesiologists may prefer that you don't eat or drink anything for eight hours prior to surgery; follow the recommendations of your doctor. If you're on medications, ask your doctor if you should stop taking them before or after surgery.
When you arrive at the hospital, staff members help you prepare for surgery. You need to remove eyeglasses or contact lenses, hairpins or hair ornaments, and dentures.
Before your surgery, you change into a hospital gown and may put on special stockings to prevent blood clots in your leg veins. A nurse may clean and possibly shave your abdomen. Before going to the operating room, you may receive an injection of pain medication or you may be given pain medication through an intravenous (IV) line.
- The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists. Alternatives to hysterectomy in the management of leiomyomas. Obstetrics & Gynecology. 2008;112:387.
- Haney AF. Leiomyomata. In: Gibb RS, et al. Danforth's Obstetrics and Gynecology. 10th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2008:916.
- The Practice Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Myomas and reproductive function. Fertility and Sterility. 2008;90(suppl):S125.
- Stovall TG, et al. Myomectomy. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 18, 2011.
- Management of uterine fibroids: An update of the evidence. Rockville, Md.: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. http://www.ahrq.gov/downloads/pub/evidence/pdf/uterupdate/uterup.pdf. Accessed Jan. 31, 2011.
- Breech LL, et al. Leiomyomata uteri and myomectomy. In: Rock JA, et al. Te Linde's Operative Gynecology. 10th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Wolters Kluwer Health Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2008:687.
- Khaund A, et al. Impact of fibroids on reproductive function. Best Practice & Research Clinical Obstetrics and Gynaecology. 2008;22:749.
- Seracchioli R, et al. Obstetric and delivery outcome of pregnancies achieved after laparoscopic myomectomy. Fertility and Sterility. 2006;86:159.
- Agdi M, et al. Endoscopic management of uterine fibroids. Best Practice & Research Clinical Obstetrics and Gynaecology. 2008;22:707.
- Spies JB, et al. Outcomes from leiomyoma therapies: Comparison with normal controls. Obstetrics & Gynecology. 2010;116:641.
- Stewart EA (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Feb. 17, 2011.
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