Will I need to remove my body piercings during BA surgery?

Hello-The surgery center nurses do not always remove pierced jewelry during surgery, but occasional cover it with tape. If your piercing is not in the field of surgery, I do not see a problem with leaving in it, but you will need to follow the protocol of your surgeon and the surgery center. If they still want it removed, you can ask them to immediately place a prolene suture through hole (to keep it open) and then replace the jewelry after surgery. Good luck.

Thanks for your question. To be safe, I recommend that you remove all metal object from your body and replace metal piercings with plastic ones. Cautery is used during surgery to minimize bleeding. Metal objects are at risk to absorb some of the heat from cautery and thus burn the surrounding skin. 

as there is this old wives tale of not having piercings in when having surgery.  I've never seen an isolated piercing conduct current as is speculated here.  And when taped, most of the time the tape is pushing the metal down on the skin and not really doing anything in terms of insulating it from your body.  Certainly you do not want to touch the cautery to the metal jewelry so you shouldn't have any piercings in the field of surgery.  Changing others to plastic certainly will not harm you but I doubt it really helps.  Intraoral piercings can be dislodged by the ET tube so those should be removed after you're asleep and put back in before you awaken.  Your surgeon will have his/her own preference and you simply must follow their direction or find another surgeon.

Hello.  Your piercings can be replaced with plastic substitutes to ensure your safety during surgery. Sometimes your physician may exchange them after you are "put to sleep". 

Hello thevon5893 hope all is well, thank you for the questions. It is always helpful if you discuss your concerns with your surgeon and keep a close contact with him/her, communicating your concerns with your surgeon will be helpful to you as they are  the best person to address your questions and concerns since they know how the procedure will be done. I ask my patients to remove piercings around or in your mouth area as a concern for the anesthesiologist of something coming loose and traveling into your airway no matter how cautious one is there is always a risk, and if it can be avoided it is best to do so.Best of luck!

It
is preferred to remove any metal body piercings prior to surgery, plastic
piercings are okay. The
best doctors to ask will be your board certified plastic surgeon and the
anesthesiologist. Good luck with your
surgery in July!

In general, we don't want metal jewelry, such as piercings worn, to avoid potential transfer energy and cause a thermal injury from cautery, or hot knife often used in this surgery.  You could cover with tape, but its likely best to remove for safety.

I ask my patients to at least replace their piercings with plastic unless they are in the operative field to try to avoid a burn from the use of electrocautery. Also, piercings around or in your mouth are a concern for the anesthesiologist with the concern being something coming loose and traveling into your airway in spite of an abundance of caution. You should discuss this in advance with your plastic surgeon.Dr. Edwards

In general, you can keep your piercings as long as a piece of tape is wrapped around the medalian and base; the idea is to avoid a burn caused from the metal of your piercing when using the cautery during surgery.

During your surgery, your plastic surgeon will use electrocautery to control bleeding when making pockets for your breast implants. There is a potential for electrical burns if metal piercings are left in place. I would remove the metal piercings and temporarily replace them with plastic if you are concerned about the holes closing. Thank you for sharing your question. Best wishes.Dr. Gregory Park