Clinical Case Database / Category: Clinical Care
Preoperative assessment of the surgical patient
Publication details
Dr Kamen Valchanov, Dr Andrew Klein
Foundation Years Journal, volume 6, issue 5, p.24 (123Doc Education, London, May 2012)
Abstract
The term pre-operative assessment implies that surgery has been planned, and that the patient should be prepared for the operation. However, the definition of pre-operative assessment has evolved, especially as new technology has become available to aid medical assessment. As well as this, patients are now usually admitted to hospital on the day of surgery, and pre-operative assessment has therefore been significantly expanded in its scope. It now encompasses all interventions aiming at evaluating the health state of an individual patient, assessing risks, and recommending best perioperative management, as well as communicating this plan with the patient and the multi-disciplinary team. In this article we will discuss the value of pre-operative assessment and some of the key points of this work. We will also illustrate this with some examples from real patients.
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Authors
Dr Kamen Valchanov
-
Dr Andrew Klein
Consultants in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care,
Papworth Hospital,
Cambridge,
CB23 3RE
andrew.klein@papworth.nhs.uk
References
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10. White SM, Baldwin TJ. Consent for anaesthesia. Anaes 2003, 58:760-74.
11. Calman KC. Communication of risk: choice, consent, and trust. Lancet 2002, 360:166-8.
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About the Clinical Cases Database
The Foundation Years Clinical Cases Database is a selection of 600 peer-reviewed clinical cases in the field of patient safety and clinical practice, specifically focused on the clinical information needs of junior doctors, based around the Foundation Year Curriculum programme (MMC). The cases have been chosen to align with the Foundation Year Curriculum.
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