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Preoperative Evaluation of Patients Undergoing Non-cardiac Surgery

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Basic Sciences in Anesthesia

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Abstract

Traditionally, routine tests have been considered important elements of preanesthetic evaluation to determine fitness for surgery. Over the past three decades this practice has been scrutinized due to a low yield and high cost. In fact, routine tests such as complete blood count (CBC), chest X-ray, electrocardiogram (EKG), urinalysis, and electrolyte panel are of little value in detecting disease or changing management. Rather multiple investigations detect minor irrelevant abnormalities, increase patient risk, cause delay, and increases liability. Over the past three decades, many reviews and studies have confirmed these findings that routine testing does little or nothing to aid in effective preanesthetic assessment. Rather, postoperative complications were linked to higher ASA classification, longer duration of anesthesia, more complex surgery, and poor nutritional status.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesiology, Icahn Medical Center at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA

    Elizabeth A. M. Frost

  2. Icahn Medical Center at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA

    Daniel Katz

Authors
  1. Elizabeth A. M. Frost
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  2. Daniel Katz
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elizabeth A. M. Frost .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of General Anesthesia and Outcomes Research, Anesthesiology Institute, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Case Western University, Cleveland, OH, USA

    Ehab Farag

  2. Center for Anesthesiology Education, Anesthesiology Institute, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, USA

    Maged Argalious

  3. Department of General Anesthesia, Anesthesiology Institute, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA

    John E. Tetzlaff

  4. Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Deepak Sharma

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© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG

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Frost, E.A.M., Katz, D. (2018). Preoperative Evaluation of Patients Undergoing Non-cardiac Surgery. In: Farag, E., Argalious, M., Tetzlaff, J.E., Sharma, D. (eds) Basic Sciences in Anesthesia. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62067-1_24

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62067-1_24

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-62065-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-62067-1

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