Pre-Operative Assessment

What Is a Pre-Operative Assessment?

A Pre-Operative Assessment is a physical examination by your surgeon. The purpose of a Pre-Operative Assessment is to look at any:

• Lumps, Discolouring 
• Visible changes, or
• Other signs

Any changes in appearance, size or other should be noted during a Pre-Operative Assessment.

Benefits of Pre-Operative Assessments

Pre-Operative Assessments are an important part of early detection. 

Although most lumps are discovered through self-exams, a Pre-Operative Assessment conducted by an expert may notice suspicious areas that may not have been noticed by the patient.

What to Expect from a Pre-Operative Assessment

You are asked to remove your clothing from the waist up and while on the examination table you are covered by a sheet.

Visual Examination

The Pre-Operative Assessment starts with your doctor examining you while seated, standing and lying down.

You may be asked to raise your arms over your head, let them hang by your sides, or press your hands against your hips. These postures allow your doctor to consider symmetry. Your doctor is looking for:

• 
  Changes or differences 
• Areas of fullness or thickness
• Differences in skin colour, (redness),
• Differences in the skin texture or rashes,
• Dimpling, visible lumps or swelling of the skin
• Differences in temperature or increased skin warmth
• Discharge, leaking from the lesions
• Any other changes, irregularities or scaling

Physical Examination

Next, the doctor needs to feel or palpate the affected areas.

The Physical Exam is done both over the local areas and elsewhere and may involve some pressure to assess deeper tissue. Your doctor uses firm pressure with their fingers to feel for:

• Lumps, including their size, shape and whether or not they move within the tissue
• Hardening or thickening of the tissue
• Tenderness or pain

Your doctor will also feel lymph nodes in

• The underarm area and
• Other areas for any lumps or hardening.

What Happens if an Abnormality is Found?

If a lump is discovered, your doctor will note its size, shape, and texture. Your doctor will also check to see if the lump moves easily. Benign lumps often feel different from cancerous ones, but any lump found will likely need to be examined with further diagnostic measures.

The doctor will talk to you about anything that is found and let you know if further diagnostic tests are required.

It may be helpful to know that lumps that appear soft, smooth, round, and movable are likely to be either benign tumours or cysts.
A lump that is hard and oddly-shaped and feels firmly attached is more likely to be cancer, but further tests are needed to diagnose the problem.