Paging Dr Curry!

A friend just told me that I will have to have an arterial blood gas as part of my pre-op. Is this true? Damn but they hurt like the devil and its not something I will be looking forward to. Had one back in June and don't want to ever have it again if I can avoid it!

It's up to anesthesia but I doubt it. C

Thank you ......I feel so much better!

Cathy, If it helps any..ABG's may hurt sometimes, but not everytime. Just because you had a bad experience once, doesn't mean it will happen the next time. I've done hundreds of them and many patients say they even feel them. Here's the advice: When the person comes in to do them..show NO emotion. Don't talk unless spoken to. Definitely don't tell them that the last one hurt or even go the other way and tell them you have faith in them to make it painless. The whole point is don't put pressure on the the person doing the gases and they will do a better job. When I had ABG's done on myself, I picked the meanest person in the lab to do the job. They didn't hurt a bit ;) Cathy_P

Thanks for the advice. I'll do what you suggest and suck it up it I have to have it done!

i didn't have to have a ABG, but i did have to have a arterial line during surgery which was removed before i woke up. good luck.

Hi there.. I did have to have a blood gas pre-op and I was terrified. I hadn't had one before but I heard plenty about how bad they are. I was amazed when I DIDNT FEEL A THING! It hurt more when they took blood from my arm! So...it's not always bad I'm a big chicken and I survived lol.. Cherrie -139 2/19/04 Dr. Custer

Oh that Dr. Custer...why does he torture his patients so! Dr. C