After your time in the pre-op area, a member of your care team will bring you into the operating room.
For many patients, this can feel like one of the most intimidating moments of surgery day simply because it's unfamiliar.
Knowing what you're likely to see—and what your team is doing around you—can make those few minutes feel less uncertain.
The operating room may look busier than you expect.
You may notice:
Although there may be a lot happening around you, each member of the team has a role in getting you safely prepared for the procedure.
If you're wondering what happens immediately before this point, What Happens in Pre-Op Before Surgery Starts? walks through the previous part of surgery day.
Your team will help you move onto the operating table and get into the position needed for your procedure.
You may receive warm blankets or other measures to help keep you comfortable.
Your team will also continue preparing the room, equipment, and monitoring needed for your surgery.
Exactly what happens—and in what order—can vary depending on the procedure, facility, and type of anesthesia.
Before the procedure begins, your team performs final safety checks.
You may hear them confirm information such as:
You've probably answered some of these questions several times already.
The repetition is intentional. Confirming important information at multiple points is part of the surgical safety process.
Your team will use monitoring appropriate for your procedure and anesthesia.
Common monitoring includes:
Other monitoring may be used depending on your surgery, health, and type of anesthesia.
Your anesthesia professional monitors you and manages your anesthesia care throughout the procedure.
You may be awake when you first enter the operating room.
What happens after that depends on the type of anesthesia planned for your procedure.
You might receive:
Regional or local anesthesia may also be combined with sedation.
That means not every patient is completely unconscious during surgery. Depending on your anesthesia plan, you may be awake, sleepy, deeply sedated, or unconscious.
Your anesthesia team should discuss the plan with you before your procedure so you know what to expect.
Once your anesthesia has taken effect and your team is ready, the procedure begins.
Your surgical team performs the operation while your condition continues to be monitored.
If you're receiving general anesthesia, you'll be unconscious during the procedure.
With regional or local anesthesia, you may remain awake or receive sedation as well. What you remember can also vary depending on the type and depth of sedation you receive.
If you're worried about what you'll experience, ask your anesthesia team before surgery:
Will I be awake? Will I remember anything? What should I expect to feel?
Those questions can give you a much more useful answer than assuming everyone experiences the operating room in the same way.
What happens next also depends partly on the anesthesia you received.
If you had general anesthesia or deeper sedation, the anesthesia team will transition you out of that state while continuing to monitor you.
If you remained awake with local or regional anesthesia, there may not be the same process of “waking up.”
After the procedure, you'll usually be transferred to a recovery area for continued monitoring.
If you're wondering why this transition sometimes seems to take longer than expected, Why Is Surgery Taking Longer Than Expected? explains why the operation itself is only one part of the total time spent away from family.
Maybe.
What you remember depends considerably on the type of anesthesia and sedation you receive.
Someone receiving general anesthesia will have a very different experience from someone having a procedure under local or regional anesthesia with little or no sedation.
Even among patients receiving sedation, the level can vary.
If this is something you're worried about, ask your anesthesia team what level of awareness and memory they expect with your particular anesthesia plan.
Yes. Walking into an unfamiliar room filled with equipment and people can feel intimidating, especially when you don't know what is about to happen.
It may help to remember that those first few minutes are largely about preparation: getting you positioned, connecting monitoring, completing safety checks, and starting the anesthesia plan that was discussed with you.
You can also tell your care team if you're feeling particularly anxious. You don't have to pretend you're comfortable with a situation that feels unfamiliar.
Preparing for surgery involves a lot of small but important steps. Download the free SurgiNav Surgery Prep Checklist to stay organized and feel more confident before your procedure.
The operating room may look busy and unfamiliar, but much of what happens when you first arrive involves positioning, monitoring, final safety checks, and preparing for anesthesia and surgery.
Not everyone has the same experience once anesthesia begins. General anesthesia causes unconsciousness, while local or regional anesthesia may allow you to remain awake, sometimes with sedation as well.
Your anesthesia team can tell you what level of awareness, sedation, and memory to expect for your particular procedure.
Make sure you've completed the most important preparation steps before your procedure. Download the free SurgiNav Surgery Prep Checklist and head into surgery day with confidence.
Download the Free Surgery Prep ChecklistThis article provides general educational information and is not a substitute for medical advice. Always follow the instructions provided by your healthcare team.
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