Medical care of the surgical patient

Abstract

As part of comprehensive care family physicians are often asked to perform presurgical assessments. Over 50 million procedures are performed yearly, each with varying degrees of risk [1]. These preinterventional assessments weigh the risks inherent in the surgical intervention along with the preexisting medical state of the patient undergoing the proposed procedure. It is necessary to get a whole picture of the patient in order to address these risks and determine if they outweigh the benefits of surgery. One of the most important components of the preoperative evaluation is communication with the surgical team. That is just as important as communicating to the patient how to prepare for surgery and after surgery. This chapter will not address emergency situations, i.e., exploratory laparotomy due to trauma, as they do not always allow enough time for a full assessment which could end up delaying life-saving treatment. It will, however, address the process of preoperative risk stratification. Recommendations derived from current guidelines will be presented to help prevent adverse outcomes such as postoperative deep vein thrombosis.