PREOPERATIVE CARDIAC RISK ASSESSMENT PRIOR TO NONCARDIAC SURGERY

Cardiac complications remain an important cause of perioperative morbi dity and mortality with noncardiac surgery, despite improvement in sur gical techniques and anaesthetic management. Therefore preoperative ca rdiovascular risk assessment plays a pivotal role in management of pat ients prior to noncardiac surgery. Thorough history-taking and careful examination are essential to consider further diagnostic steps in ord er to predict the patient's individual perioperative cardiac risk as a ccurately as possible. Besides elaboration of medical therapy, cardiac catherization and even balloon angioplasty or bypass surgery must be considered if indicated by preoperative cardiac testing.