Preop cardiac clearance evaluation every anesthesiologist should know: by William L. Thompson MD, anesthesiologist

My first recommendation is to become very familiar with the ACC/AHA guidelines regarding Perioperative Management  for Noncardiac Surgery. I will provide a link below. In September 2024, the ACC/AHA updated recommendations for noncardiac surgery. The last guidelines 2014. These are the recommendations they brought forth, and I will summarize the most important anesthesia considerations.

Please keep in mind, these are only guidelines and should not replace .....

These quidelines have been created to translate scientific evidence into clinical practice.  These recommendations are applicable to patients with or without cardiovascular disease. These guidelines will identify those most at risk for cardiovascular complications, and serves to provide evidence based recommedations to minimize surgical delay,  guide appropriate cardiovascular evaluation,  and provide the best possible surgical outcome/recovery.

I will discuss several aspects I believe are most pertinent to anesthesiologists and provide a decision tree, courtesy of the ACC/AHA.