Preparation for Mohs Micrographic Surgery

When a patient arrives at our office for Mohs, any last minute questions or concerns can be addressed before getting started. A more formal consultation to discuss the operation can be scheduled in the days and weeks before surgery if a patient would prefer OR if the referring physician feels that it is necessary.

Prior to surgery, we recommend that patients get a full night’s sleep and (unless told otherwise) eat a light breakfast. The procedure is performed entirely on an outpatient basis in our office. The laboratory work involved in preparing the tissue for microscopic interpretation is labor-intensive and can take up to 1 – 2 hours or more to complete for each layer. Most patients bring a book or something to do while waiting on the results. We ask each patient to plan to spend the rest of the day with us, but some patients may be finished earlier.

If you are known to have cardiovascular disease and have been prescribed aspirin, Plavix, or Coumadin by your physician, it is not necessary to discontinue it, unless you are told otherwise. If you have not been prescribed aspirin or other blood thinners by your physician for the treatment of known cardiovascular disease, avoid aspirin for at least 7 days prior to surgery and for 2 – 3 days after surgery. All patients should try to avoid other NSAID’s (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), such as Advil/Motrin/ibuprofen, Naprosyn/Aleve/naproxen, and similar medications, and vitamin E as these medications also increase the tendency of bleeding. Plain Tylenol may be taken if pain medicine is needed. Be sure to check with your primary care physician prior to discontinuing any prescribed medications. A patient should also not drink any alcoholic beverages for two days before surgery and for one to two days afterwards.