II. Protocols: Preoperative Cardiac Risk Assessment
- Preferred protocol
- Older protocol (listed for historical reasons only)
III. Risk Factors: Cardiovascular
- Patient risk factors
- See protocols for Cardiac Risk Assessment above
- See Eagle's Cardiac Risk Assessment
- See Cardiac Risk Factors
- Coronary Artery Disease
- Diabetes Mellitus
- Age over 70 years
- Prior Myocardial Infarction
- Surgical risk factors
IV. Exam: Relevant Cardiovascular Findings
- Signs of Left Ventricular Dysfunction
- Displaced point of maximal impulse
- Left ventricular lift
- Diminished S1 Heart Sound
- Diminished S2 Heart Sound
- Mitral Regurgitation murmur
- Alteration in pulse volume
- Signs of Pulmonary Hypertension
- Parasternal lift
- Accentuated P> heart sound
- Right ventricular S3 Heart Sound
- Right ventricular S4 Heart Sound
- Tricuspid regurgitation murmur
- Prominent A-wave in neck
- Jugular Venous Distention
- Signs of severe valvular heart disease
V. Diagnostics: Electrocardiogram (EKG)
- Indications (ICSI 2012 guidelines)
- Age over 65 years (some hospitals require ekg at age 55 years)
- Coronary Artery Disease or Chest Pain
- Congestive Heart Failure
- Peripheral Vascular Disease
- Diabetes Mellitus
- Hypertension
- Morbid Obesity
- Inability to Exercise (e.g. 4 METS)
- Additional indications per Cornell study below (not on ICSI list)
- Hyperlipidemia
- Severe Valvular Heart Disease
- Exceptions: EKG not needed in these cases
- Minimal risk procedures (e.g. Cataract surgery)
- Timing (if indicated)
- Within 1 year minimum or
- Within 30 days if known Coronary Artery Disease
- Following last cardiovascular symptom episode (if within the last year)
- Pertinent positive (abnormal) Electrocardiogram findings
- Myocardial Infarction
- Major Q Waves
- Major ST segment Depression or ST Elevation
- Major T Wave changes
- Left Bundle Branch Block
- Bifascicular block
- Atrioventricular Block (Mobitz II or higher)
- Prolonged QT interval
- Right Ventricular Hypertrophy
- Atrial Fibrillation
- Myocardial Infarction
- References
VI. Diagnostics: Echocardiogram Indications
- Evaluation of left ventricular function
- Dyspnea with unknown cause
- Congestive Heart Failure (current or prior)
- Progressive Dyspnea or other clinical status changes and
- No Echocardiogram in the last year
- Murmur evaluation
- Not indicated for benign, 2/6 mid-Systolic Murmurs without other signs or symptoms
- Asymptomatic patients with undiagnosed cardiac murmur
- Diastolic Murmur, Continuous murmur or Late Systolic Murmur
- Murmur associated with ejection click
- Murmur radiation to the neck or back
- Grade 3 Mid-peaking Systolic Murmur (or louder)
- Symptomatic patient with cardiac murmur
- Abnormal cardiac signs
- Abnormal EKG or Chest XRay
VII. Evaluation: Special circumstances
- Risk for CAD patients undergoing general Anesthesia
- MI within 3 months: Reinfarction rate 27-37%
- MI within 6 months: Reinfarction rate 11-16%
- MI more than 6 months ago: Reinfarction rate 5%
- Steen (1978) JAMA 239:2566-70 [PubMed]
- Risk of cardiac event per Anesthesia type
- Unclear whether regional is safer than general
- Christopherson (1996) J Clin Anesth 8:578-84 [PubMed]
- Rodgers (2000) BMJ 321:1493-7 [PubMed]
- Coronary revascularization prior to major surgery is unlikely to provide benefit over maximal medical therapy
- Exception: High risk patients who would benefit from CABG
- Consider CABG prior to Intermediate Risk Surgery or High Risk Surgery
- CARP Trial
- No benefit of revascularization prior to major vascular surgery
- McFalls (2004) N Engl J Med 351:2795-804 [PubMed]
- DECREASE-V Trial
- No benefit of revascularization even in very high risk patients prior to major vascular surgery
- Poldermans (2007) J Am Coll Cardiol 49(17): 1763-9 [PubMed]
- COURAGE Trial
- No benefit of revascularization even in Stable Angina prior to major vascular surgery
- Boden (2007) N Engl J Med 356(15):1503-16 [PubMed]
- Exception: High risk patients who would benefit from CABG
VIII. Protocol: Cardiovascular Risk Assessment
- See Preoperative Cardiovascular Evaluation
- See ACC-AHA Preoperative Cardiac Risk Assessment
- No cardiac testing needed if
- Additional evaluation needed if criteria above not met
- See ACC-AHA Preoperative Cardiac Risk Assessment
- High risk patient identification tools
IX. Prevention: Medications recommended if Cardiac Risk Factors
- Beta Blockers
-
Statin medications
- Consider delaying surgery 1 month to start Statin before the procedure if significant Cardiovascular Risks
- Indicated before vascular surgery and before non-cardiac surgery with higher cardiac event risk (see above)
- Statins reduce risk of perioperative adverse cardiovascular event with Number Needed to Treat of 13
- Schouten (2009) N Engl J Med 361(10) 980-89 [PubMed]
- Poldermans (2003) Circulation 107:1848-51 [PubMed]
- Do not stop Statin drugs in the perioperative period
- Significant increased risk of cardiovascular events on abruptly stopping Statins
- Restart Statin within 1 day postoperatively
- Consider perioperative use of extended release Statin such as Lovastatin or Fluvastatin
- References
- Consider delaying surgery 1 month to start Statin before the procedure if significant Cardiovascular Risks
- Antiplatelet agents
- See Perioperative Antiplatelet Therapy
- See Antiplatelet Therapy for Vascular Disease
- See Medications to Avoid Prior to Surgery
- Do not stop antiplatelet agents without carefully reviewing indications
- Other medication precautions
- Do not start Clonidine perioperatively (however may be continued if on longterm Clonidine)
- Risk of significant Hypotension and nonfatal Cardiac Arrest
- Devereaux (2014) N Engl J Med 370(16): 1504-13 [PubMed]
- ACE Inhibitors and ARBs may be continued perioperatively
- Safe to continue unless adverse effects (Hypotension, renal dysfunction, Electrolyte abnormalities)
- Do not start Clonidine perioperatively (however may be continued if on longterm Clonidine)
X. Resources
- Perioperative risk assessment tool
XI. References
- Dummer (2009) Perioperative Guidelines
- Danielson (2012) ICSI: Preoperative Evaluation
- Fleisher (2007) Circulation 116: e418-e500 [PubMed]
- Fleisher (2014) Circulation 130(24): 2215-45 [PubMed]
- Eagle (2002) Circulation 105:1257-67 [PubMed]
- Eagle (1996) Circulation 93:1278-317 [PubMed]
- Karnath (2002) Am Fam Physician 66:89-96 [PubMed]
- Mikhail (2017) Am Fam Physician 95(10): 645-50 [PubMed]
- Palda (1997) Ann Intern Med 127:313-328 [PubMed]
- Schroeder (2002) Am Fam Physician 66(6):1096-1109 [PubMed]