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Steroids prior to surgery?

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Posted 12/8/2009 2:53 PM (GMT 0)
Who has used steriods prior to surgery?  I'm scheduled for surgery 1/15 and my GI is putting me on 30 mg of pred starting today.  We're doing a quick taper, but I'm still concerned about complications. 

Just what I need --- pred and the holiday?!  This should be interesting.....

Thanks,

Lorraine

Posted 12/8/2009 2:55 PM (GMT 0)
I was on 40 mg of prednisone when I had my resection on June 18 of this year. I have had nothing but trouble with infection, fistula's etc... I'm sure other people have had better outcomes. I don't know if mine was because of the pred or not. Good Luck to you!!

Angela
Posted 12/8/2009 5:07 PM (GMT 0)
usually not a good idea ... thats what my surgeon (he's also my godfather :D ) told me :)
Posted 12/8/2009 9:11 PM (GMT 0)
I am facing this prob right now. I just got out of hospital, need surgery, they didn't want to do it yet cause of being on steroids. The first time I had surgery I was on pred and had no probs.
Posted 12/8/2009 11:13 PM (GMT 0)
I was on 100mg of prednisone for a YEAR prior to my surgery and only was able to taper down to 60mg before my surgery with Watson.  I had horrible complications (abscesses,fistula ect ect), and I'm still on steriods today (5mg, almost done!!).  He will def take that into consideration, you might be left with an open wound instead of closing it and having a good chance of infection. Honestly though you are only going to be on them for a lil over a month, and its not a HUGE dose. 
Posted 12/9/2009 12:22 AM (GMT 0)
I am in a similar situation (having surgery in January) and the docs were going to have me on 40mg / day of prednisone with taper right before the surgery. Instead they elected for me to use Entocort (9mg / day) instead of the prednisone. Your docs approach sounds like it makes sense -- From what I understand, if you go into, say, a resection with a lot of inflammation the chances of a successful outcome may be decreased.
Posted 12/9/2009 12:30 AM (GMT 0)
I was on steroids prior to surgery, but my surgeon wanted me off of them. I tapered off about 2 weeks prior to my surgery and I did not have any complications. While in the hospital for sugery they put me back on them again, this time 100mg.
Is it good or bad, I can't answer that.
Posted 12/9/2009 10:37 AM (GMT 0)
I could only taper down to 15mg of pred when I had my resection and I had been on pred for 4 years straight prior to that. I had no surgical complications and healed in a good amount of time - but the CD grew back after less than a year right beside the surgical site. I was'nt even able to get off the pred and am now hoping the Humira will help with that.
Good luck.
Jo
Posted 12/9/2009 11:25 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks for all your replies. By the time my surgery rolls around I'll only be on 5 mg so that makes me feel better. And since it's supposed to be laproscopic I'm hoping I won't end up with an open wound. But we'll see.

Thanks!
Posted 12/9/2009 3:56 PM (GMT 0)
The 5 mg might be just right.

It is my understanding that if you have been on steroids just before surgery - and in some cases, within six months or a year of being on steroids, then it might be necessary to be on steroids during the surgery.

Why? Because the body's ability to deal with physical stress can be compromised even after a brief round of steroids, and surgery is certainly physically stressful.

The following link leads to more info about prednisone, including the impact of surgery: 

http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:5s5EQK-2hUAJ:www.gihealth.com/html/education/drugs/prednisone.html+prednisone+surgery&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

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