Anaesthesia
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Just as there is growing interest in enhancing recovery after surgery, prehabilitation is becoming a recognised means of preparing the patient physically for their operation and/or subsequent treatment. Exercise training is an important stimulus for improving low cardiovascular fitness and preserving lean muscle mass, which are critical factors in how well the patient recovers from surgery. Despite the usual focus on exercise, it is important to recognise the contribution of nutritional optimisation and psychological wellbeing for both the adherence and the response to the physical training stimulus. This article reviews the importance of a multi-modal approach to prehabilitation in order to maximise its impact in the pre-surgical period, as well as critical future steps in its development and integration in the healthcare system.
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In this paper I explain why I think that most of the models that predict postoperative mortality should not be used when we're talking to patients about postoperative survival. Available models are isolated in time (from survival in the present) and space (from survival outside hospital). We know a lot about survival outside hospitals, with sufficient detail that we can discriminate between a man born in 1975 vs. 1976, or a woman aged 64 years vs. 65 years. ⋯ We are also intervening earlier in progressive diseases, knowing that people are living long enough to experience harm from their progression. There is an evolving conflict between operating on older people and operating on younger people. Who has most to gain from the operation and who has most to gain from peri-operative critical care? Do we prioritise on reducing death now, in patients with relatively short life expectancies, or do we invest in the long-term survival of patients with relatively low rates of dying now? This conundrum is not informed by current risk models, with their focus on one to three postoperative months: we need to know survival outside hospital to gauge the value of what we do in hospital.
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Cardiac events remain the leading cause of peri-operative morbidity and mortality, and patients undergoing major surgery are exposed to significant risks which may be preventable and modifiable. Proper assessment and management of various cardiac conditions in the peri-operative period by anaesthetists can markedly improve patient safety, especially in high-risk patient populations. This involves understanding and applying current evidence-based practice and international guidelines on the main aspects of cardiac optimisation, including management of patients with hypertension, chronic heart failure, valvular heart diseases and cardiac implantable electronic devices. ⋯ There is an increasing need for anaesthetist-led services, including focused transthoracic echocardiography and management of implantable cardiac electronic devices. Anaesthetists should be encouraged to play a proactive role in pre-operative risk stratification and make timely multidisciplinary referrals if necessary. A personalised approach to pre-operative cardiac optimisation enables a safer peri-operative journey for at-risk patients undergoing major surgery.