title: Preoperative patient assessment: Identifying patients at high risk.
abstract: Postoperative mortality remains alarmingly high with a mortality rate ranging between 0.4% and 4%. A small subgroup of multimorbid and/or elderly patients undergoing different surgical procedures naturally confers the highest risk of complications and perioperative death. Therefore, preoperative assessment should identify these high-risk patients and stratify them to individualized monitoring and treatment throughout all phases of perioperative care. A "tailored" perioperative approach might help further reduce perioperative morbidity and mortality. This article aims to elucidate individual morbidity-specific risks. It further suggests approaches to detect patients at the risk of perioperative complications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, University Clinic Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Boehm
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, University Clinic Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Baumgarten
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, University Clinic Bonn, Bonn, Germany. Electronic address: Andreas.Hoeft@ukb.uni-bonn.de.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hoeft
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000150:complications; D048909:Diabetes Complications; D006801:Humans; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D011300:Preoperative Care; D012306:Risk; D018570:Risk Assessment
keywords: biomarkers; perioperative risk; postoperative mortality; preoperative risk assessment; risk score