Anaesthetics - Pre-op Assessment Flashcards
what is important to think about in regards to anaesthetics and the elderly?
May present with many comorbidities and polypharmacy
Elderly has reduced physiology reserve in most systems
Cognitive decline is something to think about when assessing these patients
what may the trauma of syrgery be?
- Stress response (Anatomical and physiological changes in surgery)
- Fluid shifts
- Blood loss
- Cardiovascular, respiratory, renal and metabolic stress
what are the effects of general anaesthesia?
- Drug induced reversible coma
- CNS, cardiac and respiratory depression
- Drug interactions (between anaesthetics and patients durgs)
what deos Regional anaesthesia (e.g. epidural) cause?
- Profound sympathectomy
- Neurological sequelae
whata re some considerrations in anaesthetics?
- Patient - Known co-morbidities and Unknown pathologies (may not know the patient has these)
- Nature of surgery (different types of surgery)
- Anaesthetic techniques
- Post-op care
what is the role of the anaethatist pre-op?
- Assess
- Identify high risk (pick out patients that are high risk of perioperative complications, morbidity, mortality)
- Optimise
- Minimise risk
- Inform and support patients decisions
- Consent
why do a pre-op asessment?
Reduces:
- Anxiety
- Delays
- Cancellations
- Complications
- Length of stay
- Mortality
when should you do a pre-op assessment?
elective planned surgery - either in primary care or in pre-assessment clinic - gives lots of time to manage conditions prior to surgery
urgert surgery (e.g. for cancer, still have time for assessment)
emergency surgery (e.g. RTA)
what is involved in a pre-op assessment?
History
Examination
Investigations
what information needs to be gathered in a pre-op asessment history?
• Known co-morbidities:
- Severity
- Control (e.g. well controlled asthmatic is different form a bad controlled one)
•Unknown co-morbidities:
- Systemic enquiry
- Clinical examination
•Ability of withstand stress (stress of surgery):
- Exercise tolerance (good way to test it)
- Reason for limitation
- Cardio-respiratory disease
- Drugs and allergies (what is the reaction)
- Previous surgery and anaesthesia
- Potential anaesthetic problems
- Airway
- Spine
- Reflux
- Obesity
- Rarities / Family history - Malignant hyperpyrexia, Cholinesterase deficiency
what may investigation be used for?
- Detect unknown conditions
- Diagnose suspected conditions
- Severity of known disease
- Establishing a baseline
- Detecting complications
- Assessing risk
- Guiding management
- Documenting improvement
CVS and respiratory systems are the main ones we are interested to look at as anaesthetists:
what tests could we do to investigate the cardiovascular system?
ECG
Exercise tolerance test
Echo
Myocardial perfusion scan
Stress echo
Cardiac catheterisation
CT coronary angiogram
CVS and respiratory systems are the main ones we are interested to look at as anaesthetists:
what tests could we do to investigate the respiratory system?
Saturations
ABG
CXR
Peak flow measurements
FVC/FEV
Gas transfer
CT chest
what do you need to think about when choosing an investigation and who is getting them?
- Sensitivity and specificity
- Target those at risk
- Iatrogenic harm of over-investigation
What are the NICE guidelines on what we would look for in a patinet when choosing what investigation to use?
- ASA grade
- Surgery grade
- Co-morbidities