Guidelines for preoperative evaluation of most common conditions in family medicine

Abstract:

Preoperative evaluations precede every elective surgical procedure. Their aim is to assess the risk of surgery associated with the complexity of the operation and characteristics of the patient, the choice of anesthesia, the prevention of possible complications and the planning of postoperative treatment. An individual approach is required in the preoperative assessment, taking into account functional capacity, comorbidity, and the risk of the planned procedure. According to their complexity, surgical procedures are classified as small, medium and high-risk procedures. Another important breakdown is by the patient’s characteristics. The most commonly used is the classification of the American Association of Anesthesiologists’s Classification system of physical status, dividing the risk into six categories. Preoperative evaluation for cataract surgery and coronarography should be done by a family physician, and for other procedures in collaboration with the anesthesiologist. 

Key words:
preoperative assessment; guidelines; family medicine physician