Preoperative Cardiac Evaluation for Noncardiac Surgery

Abstract

Cardiac risk stratification before surgery informs consent, may advise optimization interventions, and guides intraoperative and postoperative management and monitoring. Published guidelines provide an outline for risk stratification but are only updated every 5 to 10 years; hence, cardiology expert opinion is often needed. Preoperative cardiovascular evaluation starts with an excellent history and physical examination. Accurate assessment of exercise tolerance is paramount in defining risk and determining the need for further testing. Risk/benefit ratio needs to be assessed and reviewed with all stakeholders, which pertains to deciding on cardiac intervention before surgery and bleeding versus thrombosis risk when managing medications.

Keywords: CAD (coronary artery disease); Cardiac risk assessment; Congenital heart disease; Congestive heart failure; PCI (percutaneous coronary interventions); RCRI (revised cardiac risk index); Surgical risk; Valvular heart disease.