When emergency surgeries are needed, the risk of delay is greater than the best timing.

They may be trauma patients who need repeated surgeries to repair broken bones.

They may be burn patients who need multipleskin graftsthat cannot wait.

Surgeon operating patient on table at hospital

Nomad / Getty Images

This can help to limit complications and improve recovery.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that you will be fully recovered.

Some major surgeries may take up to a year of rehabilitation.

Rather, you should be in the right condition to recover from a second surgery within the usual time.

Surgeons vary on how long they want people to wait between procedures.

Healthcare providers will recommend waiting six to 12 weeks between surgeries.

Some factors may shorten the timeline.

Outcomes may be better if it’s done within a week of the original surgery to place astent.

Open heart surgeryis a good example of a procedure that should have longer wait times.

Sometimes it takes several surgeries across months and years to correct a congenital (at birth) defect.

Wait times typically depend on what the surgeon’s treatment plan is.

How Many Times Is It Safe to Go Under Anesthesia?

In some cases, the procedure may take even longer.

Summary

Waiting times between surgeries vary depending on the situation.

If you need two different surgeries, the one that corrects the worst problem will be done first.

The second should be done after you have sufficiently recovered.

Different surgeries have different recovery times.

Work with your surgeon to decide how much time will be needed between procedures.

2018 Sep;13(3):350-357. doi: 10.5114/wiitm.2018.75878.

Kinoshita M, Morioka N, Yabuuchi M, Ozaki M.New surgical scoring system to predict postoperative mortality.J Anesth.

2017 Apr;31(2):198-205. doi:10.1007/s00540-016-2290-2.

American Society of Anesthesiologists.Preparing for Surgery: Checklist.

2023 Sep 18;15(9):e45511.

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.CABG Recovery from Surgery.

Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation.How Many Times is It Safe to Go Under Anesthesia?

American Society of Anesthesiologists.Anesthesia Risks.

Penn Medicine.Heart Transplant Surgery.