Surgery

On the day of your non melanoma skin cancer surgery

You might have a general anaesthetic if you need to have a larger operation for your skin cancer. Your health care team make sure you are ready and prepared for your surgery.

Asking any questions

If you have any questions about your operation the nurses can arrange for a member of the surgical team to come and talk to you. You sign a consent form for the operation if you didn't do it at the pre assessment clinic.

Before you go in for surgery

Your health care team will do some of these checks. This depends on what operation you are having.

Your nurse will go through a series of questions on a checklist to make sure you are ready for surgery. They ask you to:

tell them when you last had something to eat and drink
change into a hospital gown
put on a pair of anti embolism stockings - these help prevent blood clots
take off any jewellery - you may be able to keep a wedding ring on
remove contact lenses if you have them
wear a hospital identification band - this is normally on your wrist

If you have false teeth you can usually keep them in until you get to the anaesthetic room.

For some types of surgery, your nurse asks if they can remove the hair around the operation area. They usually do this with small battery powered clippers. They might remove the hair on the ward before you go for your operation. Or when you’re in the operating theatre.

Your nurse might give you a tablet or an injection to help you relax. This will be an hour or so before you go to the operating theatre. This makes your mouth feel dry. But you can rinse your mouth with water to keep it moist.

Your nurse and a porter take you to theatre on a trolley if you’ve had this medicine. You can walk down to the theatre if you haven't had any.

Having an anaesthetic

Most skin cancer surgery uses a . The doctor injects the local anaesthetic into the surrounding skin. This can sting, but the area then becomes numb. You stay awake for the procedure.

Some larger operations mean that you need a . The puts a small tube into a vein in your arm (cannula). You have the general anaesthetic through the cannula as well as any fluids and medicines you might need. This sends you into a deep sleep. When you wake up, the operation will be over.

Your doctor might give you an . It is only used for some operations. Before you go to sleep your anaesthetist might put a small tube in the space around your . They attach a pump to this tube in the spine to give you pain medication. This helps control your pain after your operation.

Waking up after surgery

After an operation under general anaesthetic, you usually go from the operating room to the recovery room. You stay in the recovery room until you are well enough to go back to the ward.

Last reviewed: 19 May 2026

Next review due: 19 May 2029

Types of surgery

The type of surgery you have depends on where the cancer is, how big it is and how deep.

Before your surgery

You usually have your skin cancer operation as a day patient with local anaesthetic. But for larger operations, you might have a general anaesthetic and be asleep for the operation.

Follow up

Find out about the follow up you'll need after treatment for skin cancer.

Non melanoma skin cancer

Non melanoma skin cancer includes basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and other rare types. They tend to develop most often on skin that has been exposed to the sun.