Operations in Ramadan between the necessity of the

procedure and delay

In the holy month of Ramadan, the activity of (operating rooms) is less than the rest of the other months, and in this context, Professor Muhammad Abed Bakhutmah, Professor of Surgery at King Abdulaziz University Hospital, confirms that there are top priorities for surgical operations for patients. He pointed out that surgeries are divided into three types, which are emergency, urgent, and optional, and that the fasting of operation patients depends on the doctor’s decision. And he adds: All patients must know that there are medical controls for performing surgeries, and the situation may differ slightly in the month of Ramadan, and in general, surgeries are generally divided into three types:

The first type: emergency operations, which are operations that treat emergency diseases, the only treatment of which is to perform the surgery soon, and its delay entails a great danger that may kill the patient.

The second type: urgent operations, which are operations that treat diseases that are not emergency but urgent, meaning that if the patient waits for a certain period, there is no harm - often - from this delay.

The third type: elective operations, which are operations that treat simple diseases that do not harm the patient - often - if left untreated, and they are divided into two parts. Operations that treat diseases that are feared to cause complications, and operations that are not afraid to cause complications. And Dr. Bakhmeh adds: There are five points that he must know Patient well and are as follows:

First: Fasting does not harm the patient who needs surgery. Rather, the patient usually fasts at least 8 hours before the operation.

Second: The patient who sleeps for the operation is given intravenous nutrients to prepare him for the operation.

Third: The operation often requires complete anesthesia, and this means the entry of these gases into the cavity, meaning that the patient who enters the hospital to perform the surgery in need of general anesthesia must break his fast in Ramadan because the nutrient solutions are considered to be breaking the fast.

Fourth: The patient after the operation usually needs several days to fall asleep in the hospital, and his body needs food, which means that the patient who is undergoing the operation may need to break his fast for a day or more.

Fifth: The type of operation is determined by the evaluating surgeon. If he thinks that the case is an emergency, the operation must be performed immediately and without delay, for example the bursting of the inflamed appendix and the bursting of a false pregnancy, a perforation of the duodenal ulcer, firearm or acute injuries, and other reasons determined by the surgeon, for these diseases, for example It needs immediate operations without any delay, and in this case, the patient''s insistence on fasting harms his health and may even kill his life in the first place. Dr. Bakhutma reveals that the second type of operations are urgent operations that can be postponed as they vary, as there are operations that can be postponed for a few or many hours It can be postponed even if for a month or more, and the operations that can be postponed for hours are like operations for abscesses in various parts of the body. If it is possible for him to fast and not be given nutrients until sunset. As for operations that can be delayed until the end of the month of Ramadan, but must be done, such as operations to remove the gallbladder because of the presence of stones in them, this if they are not inflamed The patient must take the necessary treatments for this, and in this case also he must ask the doctor if fasting is harmful to him or not, and like operations to remove tumors that are not advanced or cause complications, delaying them for a month does not usually harm the patient, as well as performing diagnostic endoscopes. Dr. Bakhutma said that the third type of surgery is elective, so there is no doubt that it can be postponed until after the month of Ramadan, such as inguinal or umbilical hernia operations, and this, although it is feared that it may cause complications, but it can be delayed and fasting does not harm the patient.