Recommended time between dive and surgery?

[kenns]

Hi There
I'm going under the knife soon and will be unable to dive during a 2 months recovery period. I'm going under general anesthesia and having some routine 'female' surgery. Therefore, I'm trying to get as much diving as possible in. Thinking along the same lines as flying, is there a recommended time frame that I should not dive before heading into surgery?

Thanks,
Kerry

 

[DocVikingo]

Never mind.

 

[TSandM]

kenns, I believe your question is regarding how long after your last dive you need to wait to go under anesthesia for surgery? The answer is that the anesthesiologist and surgeon would probably prefer you were dry . . . All humor aside, there is no physiological reason to require a given surface interval. If you have been diving repeatedly or aggressively, I'd probably allow one day to be sure you have no DCS symptoms before going under anesthesia, as the onset of such symptoms would be completely masked by the drugs, and your condition would not be recognized in a timely fashion.

 

[NJDiverMark]

I had my tonsils and adnoids taken out 2 weeks ago. I went under general anesthesia also and I dove the day before. I had no issues.

 

[bleeb]

Some additional general guidance for post-surgical recovery: Abdominal surgery and hysterectomies. (Hope those aren't too personal. I deliberately interpreted your term "routine female surgery" vaguely so these might not be applicable at all. And yes, these are 'after' recommendations, not 'before' which was what you asked.)

 

[kenns]

Thanks for your input. I plan on doing a couple of shallow dives two days prior to surgery and just wanted to make sure. - Kerry