Dear Sir/Madam:

Greetings!

Thank you for choosing the Jiahui Health Surgery Center for your superficial skin lesion excision with or without biopsy. We sincerely wish to provide you with a top quality healthcare experience. To fully prepare for your surgical procedure, please read through the following instructions:

Before surgery 

1. Please let your doctor know if you are taking aspirin, clopidogrel (Plavix), warfarin, or any other blood-thinning medications. If necessary, your doctor might request that you stop taking these medications for about a week before the surgical procedure. 

Please follow your surgeon’s advice as directed unless instructed by your cardiologist or any other specialist doctors to continue taking these medications.

DO REMEMBER TO LET YOUR SURGEON KNOW IF YOU ARE CONTINUING WITH THESE MEDICATIONS.

2. Your doctor may request that you undergo an ultrasound  or X-ray  imaging examination before or during surgery, to view your skin lesion more clearly.

3. During the imaging examination, the radiologist might indicate the location of your skin lesion with a marker. Please do not remove these markings.

4. Please bring all your latest imaging reports with you on the day of your surgical procedure.

5. Depending on the location of your skin lesion, your doctor might request you to cut the hair around the area short (using scissors). Please do not shave it. 

After surgery

1. Wound care

• Depending on your situation and the type of surgical procedure, your doctor may decide whether your wound dressing should be changed by a nurse or you can change the dressing at home by yourself. If you are caring for the wound at home by yourself, please closely follow instructions given by our medical staff, especially the following:

  ○ Frequency of changing the wound dressing

  ○ Type of cleansing solution to be used

  ○ Type of wound dressing to be used

  ○ Method of cleansing, dressing, and bandaging your wound 

• You might need a wound drain (rubber tube) inserted by your doctor to remove infected pus. Please follow your doctor's instructions closely to care for your wound drain at home

• Keep your wound dressing bandage clean and dry. You may want to cover your dressing to prevent it from getting wet when bathing

2. Diet

• Start with a soft diet and gradually resume a healthy diet

• Add protein to your diet to help with wound healing

• Refrain from alcohol, smoking, and spicy food

3. Activity

• Avoid stretching and strenuous exercise to prevent bleeding, tearing, and swelling around your wound

4. Medications

• It is likely you may experience pain several hours after the surgical procedure once the anesthesia effects wear off. Please remember to take pain medications as instructed by your doctor

5. Follow-up appointments

• Please attend your appointment for your sutures to be removed. Prompt removal of sutures is important for wound healing

• Your doctor may send the removed skin tissue for pathology testing. It may take up to several days before the final report becomes available. Depending on the results, you may require further treatment. An appointment will be scheduled where your doctor will explain these details to you

6. When to contact your doctor

Please contact your doctor immediately if you have any of the following:

• Worsening or severe pain

• Continuous bleeding 

• Increased redness or swelling in the area

• Fever higher than 38.0°C

• The wound drain accidentally dislodges before the planned removal date

Click the link for more information on General Surgery Clinical Service