Acrylic nails and nail polish during surgery?

The reason that some
anesthesiologists ask that you remove nail polish or acrylic nails is to be
able to monitor the oxygen levels in your blood while you are asleep. The
polish or acrylic can block the signal to the machine and not allow it to
function. There are different makes and models of pulse oximetry machines (the
machine that actually measure the oxygen levels), and they have different types
of probes that can go on fingers, toes, or earlobes and it depends on which
type they have available.

Also, the specific
surgery you are having makes a difference – it your surgeon needs to access your
legs for liposuction, the toe probe may not be an option, or if you are getting
a facelift, he ear is out and you may be stuck with a
probe on your finger. It would be best to contact your plastic surgeon’s office
and they can give you a clear answer on this. Usually, there are ways to work
around it so you don’t have to ruin your manicure. 

Thank you for your question,
Every surgeon and hospital is different so what I recommend is that you ask your surgeon directly. In my case I ask my patients to remove the acrylic nail at least from the thumb.
Good luck!

During any surgery monitors are placed on fingertips to chech patient's oxygenation. acrylic or dark nails hinder function of oxygen monitors and becomes a significant safety issue during surgery. therefore at least have a few fingertips clear.

 Your anesthesiologist will want to monitor your blood oxygen level during surgery. This is done by a small clip that fits either on a finger, toe or earlobe and it’s called a Pulse oximeter. If you have acrylic nails and polish on your fingers either the earlobe or a toe could be used. Check with your plastic surgeon to see whether this is acceptable for them and if not they may only need to remove one of the acrylic nails to place it on one of your fingers.  Best wishes.

Ideally, it is helpful if you have at least one finger that does not have gel nail polish so that pulse oximetry can be easily done.     

You do to need to remove the acrylic nails just the nail polish so that the oxygen levels in your blood can be measured.

It's not absolutely necessary to remove acrylic nails these days but I would suggest that you do for several weeks around the operation as they harbor bacteria and other pathogens.

You should removing the acrylic nails and polish.  During your surgery, the level of oxygen in your blood is measured with a device that shines a light through the nail of your fingers or toes.  Nail polish or an acrylic nail can interfere with this device.

 I agree with my colleagues in the sense that acrylic nails do harbor more bacteria than normal nails,  And can make getting a oxygen reading more difficult. However we do not request that patients remove nail polish in my practice. We have been able to place the oxygen monitoring equipment on patient's toes and earlobes and obtain readings that are accurate. I would discuss your particular situation with your surgeon and see with their preference is.

I wish more patients would not only ask but comply with the requests.  Nail polish, nor acrylics, nor gels are acceptable.  In the operating room setting, we utilize your fingers to monitor your blood oxygen levels.  Most women come with cold hands which makes readings poor and require the probes to be moved through out surgery, especially the longer ones, including your toes.  Acrylic nails are very dirty and harbor millions of microbes that are not good to have around incisions.  Gels lift which cause microbes to grow in the spaces we cannot see.  Even if you are constantly washing your hands, it has been proven the germinal rate is significantly higher.  You should and all patients should refrain from any artificial nails until surgery and healing is commenced.Dr. Lane F. Smith.