Can I have 1-2 alcoholic drinks a couple of days before my surgery?

It's best to avoid all alcohol for a few weeks before surgery to minimize risk of bleeding issues from any type of plastic surgery. Consult with your surgeon if you have alcohol closer than two weeks before your scheduled surgical procedure.Best wishes,Dr.Bruno

This is a very important question regarding any type of surgery. Although minimal amounts of alcohol consumption may not interfere with daily activities, this is more than important when it comes to surgery. There are 3 major reasons for this. 
1. First of all, alcohol consumption can modify blood coagulation time, hence act as a blood thinner resulting in bleeding and/or edema and swelling that are important in aesthetic procedures.
2. Alcohol consumption immediately prior to surgery can result in increased diuresis (which means increased urination) hence making it difficult to control your blood pressure, electrolyte balance hydration altogether.
3. Alcohol consumption can change the way your liver metabolized medicine, hence intake of alcohol in combination with antibiotics and non-steriod anti-inflammatory drugs can result in increased/decreased metabolization of the medicine and overdose or underdose of the medicine required.
In general, I advice ro alcohol intake for 2 days prior to surgery and 1 week after.
Hope this helps,
Ali Rıza Öreroğlu, MD FEBOPRASEuropean and Turkish Board Certified Aesthetic, Plastic and Reconstructive SurgeonIstanbul, Turkey

Thank you for your question. Each surgeon has his or her opinion on this issue so you should discuss it with your surgeon. Alcohol intake can alter the way the surgery medications are metabolized, but I think that 1-2 drinks a few days before surgery is not going to make a huge difference in my opinion.Hope this helps!

If you routinely drink this amount of alcohol, then having one or two drinks 3 days before surgery would be fine in my practice. If you normally don't drink, then you should be more cautious close to your surgery date. It's most important to discuss this with your own surgeon, who will be responsible for your outcome, and who will have his or her own opinions about drinking alcohol prior to surgery.

Thank you for your question! I recommend avoiding alcohol before surgery.  However, a drink or two, a few nights prior to surgery shouldn't be an issue. I recommend discussing this with your plastic surgeon as each surgeon has different requirements. Best of luck!

Hi; thanks for your question. In general, this is fine, but check with your surgeon to see if he or she has any specific instructions regarding this issue.

My approach is things in moderation are fine.  I have many patients that drink 1-2 glasses of red wine daily and this has been shown to be helpful from a medical standpoint.  If however you are not a big or daily drinker I would not recommend it.  If you are nervous we can give you a low dose Ambien the evening prior if you take it 8-10 hours before you plan to wake up.All my BestDr B

I think that it is safe to have 1 or 2 drinks prior to surgery. You don't want to do more than that and show up for surgery dehydrated or hung over. I would ask your surgeon to be sure. Good luck!

The best advice in your case is to ask your surgeon what their particular protocol is for your procedure.  In my practice, I allow patients to have a couple drinks up to the night before surgery as I have not found it affects bleeding for a breast augmentation. 

Hello,Thank you for your question. I ask my surgical patients to avoid alcohol for at least a few days pre and post op, as well, as long as they are taking narcotic pain medications. Each surgeon has their own preferred protocols so I recommend that you contact your surgeon to ask them what they feel is best for you.All the best