By Michelle Marchante, Miami Herald

Preparing for surgery can be scary.

In addition to the medical issues, having surgery involves a lot of prep. You may need to coordinate childcare, transportation, finances and time off work. Designate a caregiver. Stop taking certain medications and fast a certain set of hours ahead of surgery.

While most scheduled surgeries do proceed as planned, same-day cancellations for surgeries and other procedures are fairly frequent, ranging from 2.5% to 20%, depending on the procedure, according to Dr. Matthias Eikermann, chair of anaesthesiology at Montefiore Einstein, a New York-based academic health system, and also an anaesthesiology professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He and his colleague Dr. Karuna Wongtanman have worked together on studi

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