• M Pinaud.
• Pôle Anesthésie et Réanimations, CHU, 44093 Nantes.
• Arch Mal Coeur Vaiss. 2002 Feb 1;95 Spec 4(5 Spec 4):21-6.

AbstractCardiac insufficiency represents a major risk factor in patients about to undergo non-cardiac surgery. The post-operative mortality is linked to the severity of the pre-operative functional impairment: rising from 4% in NYHA class 1 to 67% in class IV. The operative risk is greater when the cardiac insufficiency is more disabling, the patient is older (> 70 years) and if there is a history of acute pulmonary oedema and a gallop bruit on auscultation. The use of metabolic equivalents (Duke Activity Status Index) is recommended: the functional capacity is defined as excellent if > 7 MET, moderate between 4 and 7, or poor if < 4. A non-invasive evaluation of left ventricular function is necessary in each patient with obvious congestive cardiac insufficiency or poor control under the American consensus, but it is rare that the patient has not already been seen by a cardiologist. The degree of per-operative haemodynamic constraint is linked to the surgical technique and is stratified according to the type of surgical intervention and whether or not it is performed as an emergency. An intervention duration > 5 hours is associated with an increased peri-operative risk of congestive cardiac insufficiency and non-cardiac death. Deaths from a cardiac cause are thus twice as frequent after intra-abdominal, non-cardiac thoracic or aortic surgery and the post-operative cardiac complications are six times more frequent. Numerous studies have attempted to document the impact of different anaesthetic techniques on the prognosis for the population at increased risk of post-operative cardiovascular complications. It is advisable to opt for peripheral nerve blocks. The cardiovascular morbidity and overall mortality do not differ between general anaesthetic, epidural anaesthetic or spinal nerve block. The ASA (American Society of Anesthesiologists) classification is widely used to determine the overall risk. The ASA class and the age are however too coarse as methods of evaluation for the individual risk and for giving judicious pre-operative advice. Multifactorial cardiac risk indexes such as that of Goldman allow overall evaluation (taking the patient and the intervention into account) of the peri-operative cardiovascular risk in non-cardiac surgery as a function of predictive clinical elements. Nine variables concerning the patient's history, the physical examination and several simple supplementary examinations are identified for which the relative weight is recorded under a points system. The average risk score for a given procedure is converted into an average risk for a given patient using a nomogram such as Detsky's. Surgical acts which do not impose major constraints on the cardiocirculatory apparatus (ophthalmic surgery for example) do not require supplementary examinations. The risk of post-operative cardiac complications is low in the absence of the 9 risk factors defined by Goldman, as is an ischaemic syndrome (angina on light physical activity, unstable angina, myocardial infarction). Certain risk factors (jugular congestion, gallop bruit, recent myocardial infarction, non-sinus rhythm, extrasystoles, aortic stenosis) obviously require appropriate treatment beforehand. The sometimes difficult process demands a dialogue between the cardiologist and the surgeon, the recognition of the risk of surgery in a given centre, and the opinion of the patient duly informed of the terms of the discussion about him.

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