Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- 1 The role of cardiopulmonary exercise testing in preoperative evaluation of surgical patients
- 2 Oesophagectomy for cancer
- 3 Vascular surgery
- 4 Anaesthesia for the elderly
- 5 Deaths following anaesthesia: lessons from NCEPOD
- 6 Pelvic and acetabular trauma
- 7 Echocardiography
- 8 Levosimendan
- 9 Critical care outreach: 6 years on
- 10 Critical care and biological disasters: lessons learned from SARS and pandemic influenza planning
- 11 Evaluating clinical performance
- 12 Non-technical skills and anaesthesia
- 13 Simulators in anaesthetic training to enhance patient safety
- Index
- References
1 - The role of cardiopulmonary exercise testing in preoperative evaluation of surgical patients
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 December 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- 1 The role of cardiopulmonary exercise testing in preoperative evaluation of surgical patients
- 2 Oesophagectomy for cancer
- 3 Vascular surgery
- 4 Anaesthesia for the elderly
- 5 Deaths following anaesthesia: lessons from NCEPOD
- 6 Pelvic and acetabular trauma
- 7 Echocardiography
- 8 Levosimendan
- 9 Critical care outreach: 6 years on
- 10 Critical care and biological disasters: lessons learned from SARS and pandemic influenza planning
- 11 Evaluating clinical performance
- 12 Non-technical skills and anaesthesia
- 13 Simulators in anaesthetic training to enhance patient safety
- Index
- References
Summary
The situation is, therefore, that the internist believes he can diagnose heart disease in life but can only state in a general way the patient's chance under operation; while the surgeon may deny this ability to discover heart disease while the patient is alive, but confidently makes such a diagnosis if the patient dies.
H. B. Sprague, 1929If this has a familiar ring then you should read on. Whilst this statement was made in 1929, the modern translation would still represent the feelings of many people today. One group would believe the first part and one group the second part. The true sceptic would of course believe both.
By virtue of the fact that the anaesthesia literature contains numerous articles discussing the best approach for preoperative assessment of major non-cardiac surgery with many urging caution and a rethink of the problem, it is clear that the problem has not yet been solved! For example, some authors strongly recommend perioperative beta-blockade and others are not so sure. A recent systematic review, with meta-analyses, goes further and concludes that there is insufficient evidence to recommend perioperative beta-blockade in any type of surgery for the prevention of death, myocardial infarction or stroke. How can there be such diversity of opinion with no resolution of such a common and serious problem? We believe that the reason for this is that too much attention has been focused on myocardial ischaemia as a risk factor.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Recent Advances in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care , pp. 1 - 20Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2007
References
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