Learn More About Your Surgery

Welcome to the Surgery Page. This site is designed to provide you with the information that you need to learn more about the most commonly encountered surgery issues in clinical practice. There are a number of links below to assist you both before and after your surgery. There are also a number of links to other Kaiser Permanente sites that you may find useful.

IMPORTANT NOTE: We strongly encourage that you tell your physician(s) what medications you are taking, at your FIRST visit. This is especially important if you are taking any anticoagulants. It is crucial for your surgical team to be aware of these medications.

Surgery Featured Health Topic
The information here will help you to prepare mentally and physically for surgery. Understanding your operation and your role in it can increase your comfort level before, during, and after surgery and will help your recovery. Click on the link above to learn more.

Preparing For Successful Surgery
Using guided imagery techniques to prepare for surgery can help decrease anxiety and pain while speeding up your recovery. This section includes information on how to obtain a program of guided imagery on CD for use before and after surgery.

Anal Fissure

Learn More About Anesthesia

Appendicitis

Bowel Surgery:
Colectomy/Colostomy Closure - Patient Pathway this patient pathway will help you to understand what will happen while you are in the hospital for Colectomy or Colostomy.
Colectomy - Patient Handbook

Breast Care
Contains important health information on breast cancer.

Cancer
Resources and health information on various cancers.

Diverticular Disease

Gallstones:
Gallbladder Disease
Gallstones

Hernia
Listing of health information on hernia.

Hemorrhoids:
Hemorrhoids
Additional Information

Hip/Knee Replacement Surgery
Learn more about these two procedures.

Medications
Useful links and resources on medications.

Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy

Vascular Surgery
Contains a collection of information relating to vascular diseases and treatments.

Additional Web Resources

Disclaimer
If you think you have a MEDICAL OR PSYCHIATRIC EMERGENCY, CALL 911 IMMEDIATELY or go to the nearest hospital. DO NOT attempt to access emergency care through this web site. An emergency medical condition is a medical or psychiatric condition that manifests itself by acute symptoms of sufficient severity (including severe pain) such that you could reasonably expect the absence of immediate medical attention to result in any of the following: serious jeopardy to your health, serious impairment to your bodily functions, or serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part. An emergency medical condition is also "active labor," which means a labor when there is inadequate time for safe transfer to a Plan hospital (or designated hospital) before delivery or if a transfer poses a threat to the health of the member or unborn child.

This site may contain links to other web sites outside of www.permanente.net. Kaiser Permanente has no control over the content or the availability of these sites, and is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such Web sites. Web links are provided as an educational tool, and should not be relied upon for personal diagnosis or treatment. A link or reference to a web site should not be construed as an endorsement of the site or its contents. Any medical content that you feel may be important to your health should always be discussed with your Kaiser Permanente physician.