The goal of preoperative assessment is to identify procedure and patient factors that affect the risk for postoperative complications. Preoperative risk stratification helps health care teams to fully understand a patient's operative morbidity. Careful, directed preoperative evaluation enables implementation of strategies to mitigate specific risks both preoperatively and postoperatively.
Use this article to:
- Why is the appropriate term for evaluation of a patient before a surgical procedure “preoperative evaluation” and not “preoperative clearance?”
- What are the different factors that need to be considered when evaluating a patient's risk for complications during noncardiac surgery?
- Review the risk assessment tools that are commonly used to evaluate a patient before surgery.
- What factors would contribute to a recommendation that a patient postpone a nonurgent surgical procedure?
- Review how to manage the administration of common antihypertensive, diabetes, and cardiac medications during the perioperative period.
- Test your knowledge by completing the quiz that accompanies the article and then review the correct answers.
Annals of Internal Medicine is the premier internal medicine academic journal published by the American College of Physicians (ACP). It is one of the most widely cited and influential specialty medical journals in the world.
Back to the December 2022 issue of ACP IMpact