Bronchoscopy, endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) and other interventional procedures are performed within a hospital in an Endoscopy Suite or Operating theatre, either at Westmead Public Hospital or Westmead Private Hospital. At your specialist consultation, one of the specialists will explain to you how the procedure is done, why it is required, what are the success rates of getting the answer from the test that is being done, the possible risks for the procedure and any post operative alerts, follow up required and any out-of-pocket financial cost involved.
If you are on blood thinning medications, please check with your referring doctor (or the radiology provider) about the exact withhold time of the medication and whether further blood tests is required before the biopsy. Examples of these medications can include Aspirin, Clopidogrel, Asasantin, Prasugrel, Ticagrelor, Clexane, Apixaban, Dabigatran, Rivaroxaban, Warfarin.
If you have diabetes, please check with the doctor what to do with your diabetes medication leading up to and on the day of the procedure. If you are on blood pressure tablets, please also check with your doctor which ones to take and not to take. In general, most of your regular medications can still be taken with a sip of water on the day of the procedure.
If you have significant medical or health problems or complex preparations required prior to the operation, the specialist may refer you to the Preadmissions Clinic at the hospital you are having the operation, in order for the anaesthetist to gather all the relevant information required prior to the procedure and run any additional baseline tests required, to ensure the operating goes as smoothly and safely as possible.
Please ensure you have the correct hospital, correct time of arrival on the date of the procedure (please check with your proceduralist or one of our team members prior) and filled out all the required Preadmission paperwork.
On the day of the procedure, please fast according to the instructions given by your specialist. In general, as an anaesthetic is required for the procedure, you will need to not eat or drink anything for 6 hours leading up to the time of the planned start of the operation. Please get to the hospital at least 1-2 hours ahead of the time of the operation, as there are sometime unforeseeable delays. Please bring all relevant blood tests, films, CT scans (on CD or USB), even if your doctor has seen them before. Please bring the originals of your bronchoscopy paperwork and consent, if you still have them.
If you are being admitted after the procedure, please bring all the necessary items you need (e.g. toiletries, change of clothes, phones, iPads, laptops, chargers … etc). If your procedure is being done as a day only procedure, please ensure you have someone to pick you up after the procedure and to stay with you for 24 hours post procedure, in case you have any reactions to the anaesthetic agents. Taking a taxi, Uber or public transport home are not considered as appropriate transport home and the lack of appropriate transport home may lead to your procedure being cancelled.
Please note that due to the procedures being performed in a hospital, there may be additional requirements as per the hospital policy (e.g. COVID screening tests prior to or on the day of procedure). Please check the below link to see if there is any additional requirement from the hospital and for further information about how to get to the hospital.
https://www.westmeadprivate.com.au
https://www.wslhd.health.nsw.gov.au/Westmead-Hospital
