How to Clean Out a Bladder Before Surgery

Bladder surgery is a last resort when therapy and medications have failed to provide relief, but it can be done for a number of reasons: to remove malignancies; repair prolapses to, or from, other parts of the pelvic area or help control incontinence, for example. To ensure full access to the bladder and to minimize the potential for infection, surgeons recommend simple procedures to prepare for surgery.

Things You'll Need

• Clear liquids (broth, juices, sodas, sports drinks)
• 3 bottles of magnesium citrate
• 2 Fleet Enemas

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Instructions

• 1

  Begin one to three days in advance of bladder surgery (per doctor recommendations). Switch from your regular diet to a clear-liquid diet. Clear liquids include chicken or beef broth with no meat, cream, vegetables, grains or noodles; tea or coffee with sweetener but no milk; clear juices like apple, grape or cranberry; sports drinks like Gatorade or PowerAde; gelatin without fruit; Italian ices or frozen pops, not the creamy kind; and sodas like seltzer, ginger ale, lemon-lime, grape or cola. Drink often all day, from rising until retiring. This will clear out whatever residue remains in your bladder. Ensure quick access to a bathroom because you will be using it frequently.

• 2

  Drink magnesium citrate in the morning two days before bladder surgery: one bottle for adults or 1 ounce for every 15 pounds of weight for children. Administer one Fleet Enema rectally. You can do this on yourself sitting on the toilet, or a helper can do it for you while you lie on your side. The enema may work within half an hour. Expect multiple bowel movements, becoming more liquid and clearer as you continue to drink clear liquids. This clears your bowel for the surgery. Ensure easy access to a bathroom because you will be using it frequently.

• 3

  Drink magnesium citrate again in the morning the day before bladder surgery: one bottle for adults or 1 ounce for every 15 pounds of weight for children. Administer one Fleet Enema rectally, as above. Ensure easy access to a bathroom because you will still be using it frequently.

• 4

  Drink nothing after midnight the night before bladder surgery, or you might get sick from the anesthesia during or after the operation. Some hospitals say to drink nothing after 10 p.m.; follow this advice. Shower the night before or on the morning of the surgery, to minimize the opportunity for germs to be present at the surgical site.