Before your surgery, board-certified anesthesiologists like Dr. Andrew Hummel prioritizes knowing what medications you take, what supplements you use, what you have eaten, and your full medical history. That conversation should not happen the moment you’re put under, but much longer before your surgery.
Key Takeaways
- Most patients do not realize that anesthesia care begins long before the operating room, and that pre-operative preparation directly determines surgical safety.
- Dr. Andrew Hummel follows three non-negotiable protocols: NPO compliance, medication reconciliation, and thorough pre-operative assessment.
- Verifying your anesthesiologist’s credentials on platforms like Healthgrades and the ABA directory is a simple but important step before any procedure.
Most patients spend weeks researching their surgeon. You may read reviews, check credentials, and ask for second opinions. But the person who monitors every heartbeat, breath, and vital sign throughout the entire procedure is your anesthesiologist. Yet they are often an afterthought, which is a problem.
According to Dr. Andrew Hummel, a board-certified anesthesiologist and Diplomate of the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA), the most critical decisions in the operating room are made well before you ever arrive there. In this blog, you will learn about the things your anesthesiologist wants you to know before you walk into the Operating Room (OR).
Anesthesia Starts Days Before Surgery
One of the common misconceptions is that an anesthesiologist’s job begins when the countdown from ten starts in the OR. However, in reality, the work that determines whether surgery goes smoothly starts days, and sometimes even weeks, in advance.
Dr. Hummel practices perioperative anesthesiology. It is a comprehensive model of care that spans the full surgical journey, from pre-operative optimization and intraoperative management to post-operative recovery. Andrew Hummel anesthesiologist reviews consistently reflect a physician who treats patients as individuals and not as cases.
The entire surgical day, and the labor and delivery experience, is his domain. That continuity of care is what defines how he practices. He believes that it is what separates a truly perioperative anesthesiologist from one who just manages the operating room. For patients, this distinction matters significantly.
Here are the three pre-operative protocols that Dr. Hummel considers non-negotiable.
Protocol 1: NPO Compliance and the GLP-1 Update Patients Often Miss
NPO stands for nil per os or “nothing by mouth.” It is one of the most commonly misunderstood surgical instructions. The old rule of “nothing after midnight” has been updated. Current guidelines by the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) allow most patients to consume clear liquids like water, black coffee, plain tea, up to two hours before surgery.
A newer and more urgent concern also exists for patients who take GLP-1 medications like Ozempic, Wegovy, or Mounjaro. These drugs dramatically slow down gastric emptying. So, food and liquid will stay in your stomach far longer than normal. Under general anesthesia, it creates the serious risk of pulmonary aspiration. Stomach contents can enter your lungs, which can be fatal.
Dr. Hummel has a clear protocol. He wants patients to hold GLP-1 medications for one full week before any elective surgery. This is not a minor precaution. It is a life-safety guideline that many patients, and even some providers, are not aware of.
Protocol 2: Medication Reconciliation – Including Supplements
Most patients assume that their surgical team already knows what they take. However, they often do not, unless it’s you who tells them. Medication reconciliation is the process of reviewing every drug, supplement, and over-the-counter remedy a patient uses. Your surgical team will decide whether to continue or hold each medication or supplement before surgery.
Anticoagulants, diabetic medications, and certain cardiac drugs require individualized hold-or-continue decisions based on their half-life and the procedure’s bleeding risk. But patients almost never mention anything about their supplements. Fish oil, garlic, vitamin E, and ginkgo biloba all have real pharmacological effects. They can increase your bleeding risk during surgery.
Bringing a complete and honest medication list to every pre-op appointment is one of the most useful things you can do. It just takes minutes. But it can take much longer to manage the consequences of skipping the step.
Protocol 3: The Pre-Operative Assessment Is Not a Formality
You should never treat the pre-operative assessment as routine paperwork. Dr. Hummel reviews the patient’s airway anatomy, assigns an ASA physical status classification, and identifies anything that could change the anesthetic plan.
Over the course of his career, Dr. Hummel has caught undiagnosed obstructive sleep apnea, unsuspected cardiac abnormalities, and medication interactions that would have caused serious intraoperative complications. All these issues were caught during the pre-op assessment.
If you have a history of difficult intubation, a family history of malignant hyperthermia, a pacemaker, or prior anesthesia complications, your anesthesiologist needs to know that before the day of surgery, and not when you are already in the pre-op bay. The safest surgery is the one where nothing surprises your anesthesiologist.
Verifying Your Anesthesiologist Before Surgery
Patients who want to research their anesthesiologist have straightforward options. Dr. Andrew Hummel Healthgrades profile shows board-certified anesthesiologist with a clean board record and no disciplinary actions.
You can also verify his ABA Diplomate status independently on the ABA physician directory. Moreover, his full credentials, philosophy, and areas of specialty are available on his personal professional website. If you have received care from Dr. Hummel, consider leaving a review on his Healthgrades profile.
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