You will be wheeled into the operating room by your nurse and will be asked to move to another bed. This bed is narrow and the nurse will put a safety belt across your legs to help remind you of that. To ensure your safety, your nurse will ask you the same questions the holding room nurse asked and she will also introduce you to the surgical team, which may consist of nurses, scrub technicians and anesthesia assistants. The anesthesiologist and/or certified nurse anesthetist (CRNA) will then put you to sleep.

Jjust before the surgery, a urinary catheter will be inserted into your bladder to monitor your urine output. If you have chest hair, it may be shaved and then your chest and abdomen will be washed and painted with a betadine/alcohol solution that will help reduce the risk of infection. The operation will begin shortly after this step and can last one to three hours depending on the circumstances.