Preoperative assessment: Overview:

A thorough preoperative evaluation can be useful in many ways. For example, the evaluation can:

  1. Help to identify patients who may benefit from medical optimization prior to surgery.
  2. Help the surgical team decide if proceeding with an operation is the safest treatment option for the patient.
  3. Influence the method of anesthesia a patient receives during an operation.

This chapter will review the different components of a preoperative anesthesia assessment. We will also examine the preoperative assessment of patients with common respiratory and cardiac comorbidities and briefly discuss the risks associated with anesthesia.


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