Your appointment with the Presurgical Evaluation Clinic (PEC)

After your clinic visit, you may need to be seen in the Presurgical Evaluation Clinic (PEC).

Appointment options in the PEC are:

• No appointment is needed for a nurse to review your records, but not contact you.
• Phone call:
  • A nurse will call you by phone. This call will last about 30 minutes.
• Appointment at UI Hospitals & Clinics in the PEC:
  • The nurses in the Colorectal Surgery Clinic will make this appointment for you. Your appointment will last about one hour.

At your PEC visit, you may:

• Meet with a nurse practitioner or doctor, who will review your medical history and do a brief physical exam
• Talk about which medicines to:
  • Stop taking before your surgery
  • Not take the day of surgery
  • Take the day of surgery
• Get an EKG (a test of your heart), if needed
• Talk about the type of anesthesia you will need for surgery
• Talk about the comfort measures after your surgery
• Be screened for snoring and sleep problems like obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). If at risk, you may do a sleep study before surgery.

You may need to stop some of your regular medications before surgery. The APEC staff will tell you if you need to stop taking them.