Preoperative Anaesthetic

Assessment and Premedication

19/ 10 / 2014

Dr. Jumana. M. Baaj

Ass. professor , Anesthesia consultant
Dept. of Anesthesia
KKUH- KSU
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Overview
The preoperative visit
Anaesthetic history
Examination
Special investigations
Medical referral
Risk assessment
Informing the patient
Premedication
Stages of the Peri-Operative Period

Pre-Operative

• From time of decision

to have surgery until
admitted into the OR
theatre.
Stages of the Peri-Operative Period

Intra-Operative

• Time from entering the

OR theatre to entering
the Recovering Room or
Post Anesthetic Care
Unit (PACU)
Stages of the Peri-Operative Period

Post-Operative

• Time from leaving the

RR or PACU until time
of follow-up
evaluation (often as
out-patient)
The anesthetic plan
The anesthetic plan

Type of anesthesia
General
Airway management
Induction
Maintenance
Muscle relaxation

Sedation
Supplemental oxygen
Agents

Local or regional anesthesia

Technique
Agents
The anesthetic plan

Intraoperative management
Monitoring
Positioning
Fluid management
Special techniques
Postoperative
Pain control
Intensive care
Postoperative ventilation
Hemodynamic monitoring
The preoperative visit of all patients
by an anesthetist is an essential
requirement for the safe and
successful conduct of anaesthesia
 The preoperative visit

• Main aim is to assess the patient's fitness for

anaesthesia
• The Best to be performed by an anaesthetist

• Preferably the one who is going to administer the

anaesthetic
 The preoperative visit

visit allows

– Best anaesthetic technique

– Any potential interactions between concurrent
diseases
– Anaesthesia anticipated
– Provides an explanation
– Reassurance for the patient
 The preoperative visit

Coexisting Illness

– Improve the patients condition prior to surgery

– Seeking advice from other specialists
– Optimise treatment
– Final decision .
• Three situations where special arrangements
are usually made
1-Patients with complex medical or surgical
problems
• patient is often admitted several days before surgery
• anaesthetist is actively involved in optimising their
condition prior to anaesthesia and surgery
2-Surgical emergencies
only a few hours separates admission and operation in
these patients urgent investigations or treatment
3-Day-case patients
• These are patients who are planned
• Generally ‘fitter’ ASA1 or ASA 2
• Assessment in anesthesia clinic
Anesthetic history
And Examination
Anaesthetic history and examination

Anaesthetist should take a full history &

Examine each patient
PREVIOUS ANAESTHETICS AND OPERATIONS

• Hospitals
• Enquire about inherited or 'family' diseases
– sickle-cell disease
– porphyria
• Difficulties with previous anaesthetics
– nausea
– vomiting
– dreams
– awareness
– postoperative jaundice
PREVIOUS ANAESTHETICS AND OPERATIONS

• Present & past medical history

– all the aspects of the patient's medical history
– relating to the cardiovascular and respiratory systems and its severity
Cardiovascular system

• Specific enquiries must be made about:

– Angina
• incidence
• precipitating factors
• duration
• use of anti-anginal medications, e.g. glyceryl trinitrate (GTN)
oral or sublingual )
– Previous myocardial infarction and subsequent
symptoms
– Symptoms indicating heart failure
Cardiovascular system

– myocardial infarction are at a greater risk of

perioperative reinfarction
– Elective surgery postponed until at least 6
months after the event
– Untreated or poorly controlled hypertension
(diastolic consistently > 110 mmHg) may lead
to exaggerated cardiovascular responses
– Both hypertension and hypotension can be
precipitated which increase the risk
of myocardial ischemia
Cardiovascular system

– Heart failure will be worsened by the depressant

effects impairing the perfusion of vital organs

– valvular heart disease

* ? prosthetic valves may be on anticoagulants --
need to be stopped or changed prior to surgery
* Antibiotic prophylaxis
Active Cardiac Conditions

• Unstable coronary syndromes

– Unstable or severe angina
– Recent MI
• Decompensated HF
• Significant arrhythmias
• Severe valvular disease
Minor Cardiac Predictors

• Advanced age (>70)

• Abnormal ECG
– LV hypertrophy
– LBBB
– ST-T abnormalities
– Rhythm other than sinus
• Uncontrolled systemic hypertension
Surgical Risk Stratification

• High Risk
– Vascular (aortic and major vascular)
• Intermediate Risk
– Intraperitoneal and intrathoracic, carotid, head
and neck, orthopedic, prostate
• Low Risk
– Endoscopic, superficial procedures, cataract,
breast, ambulatory surgery
Respiratory system

– Patients with pre-existing lung disease

 prone to postoperative chest infections if they are obese

or undergoing upper abdominal or thoracic surgery
 chronic obstructive lung disease production of sputum
(volume and color)
 Dyspnoea
 asthma, including precipitating factor
 upper respiratory tract infection
anaesthesia and surgery should be postponed unless it is
for a life-threatening condition
Other conditions in the medical history

– Indigestion
– heartburn
– reflux
• may indicate the possibility of a hiatus hernia
– Rheumatoid disease
• chronically anaemic
• severely limited movement of their joints
• makes positioning for surgery and airway maintenance
difficult.
• Tendency for dislocation of atalnto-occiptal joint
Other conditions in the medical history

– Diabetes
• Patients have an increased incidence of
– ischaemic heart disease
– renal dysfunction
– autonomic and peripheral neuropathy
• intra- and postoperative complications
– Neuromuscular disorders
• Care with muscle relaxants
• Coexisting heart disease
• restrictive pulmonary disease
Other conditions in the medical history

– Chronic renal failure

• anaemic
• electrolyte abnormalities
• altered drug excretion
• restricts the choice of anaesthetic agents
– Jaundice
• infective or obstructive liver disease
• Drug metabolism altered
• coagulation must be checked
– Epilepsy
• well controlled or not
• avoid anaesthetic agents potentially epileptogenic (e.g.
enflurane)
Family history

• All patients should be asked

– inherited conditions in the family
– history of prolonged apnoea
– unexplained death
– malignant hyperpyrexia
– Surgery postponed
DRUG HISTORY AND ALLERGIES

• Identify all medications

– Prescribed
– self-administered
– Allergies to drugs
• topical preparations (e.g. iodine)
• adhesive dressings
• foodstuffs
SOCIAL HISTORY

• Smoking
– number of cigarettes
– amount of tobacco

nicotine stimulates the sympathetic nervous system

• causing tachycardia
• hypertension
• coronary artery narrowing
• Alcohol
– induction of liver enzymes
– tolerance
SOCIAL HISTORY

– Difficulty with venous access

– Thrombosis of veins
– Withdrawal syndromes
– Look for tattooing also
SOCIAL HISTORY

Pregnancy
– increased risk of regurgitation and aspiration
– Elective surgery is best postponed until after
delivery.
THE EXAMINATION
THE EXAMINATION

Cardiovascular system
– dysrhythmias
– atrial fibrillation
– heart failure
– heart murmur
– valvular heart disease
– blood pressure is best measured at the end of the
examination
THE EXAMINATION

Respiratory system
– cyanosis
– pattern of ventilation
– respiratory rate
– Dyspnoea
– Wheeziness
– signs of collapse
– consolidation and effusion
THE EXAMINATION

Nervous system
– Chronic disease of the peripheral and central nervous
systems
– evidence of motor or sensory impairment recorded
– dystrophic myotonica
THE EXAMINATION

Musculoskeletal
– restriction of movement and deformities
– reduced muscle mass
– peripheral neuropathies
– pulmonary involvement
– Particular attention to the patient's cervical spine and
temporomandibular joints
THE EXAMINATION

The airway
– Try and predict difficult intubation
– Assessment is often made in three stages
1. Observation of the patient's anatomy
• Look for limitation of mouth opening, receding mandible
position, number and health of teeth, size of tongue.
• Examine the front of the neck for soft tissue swellings,
deviated larynx or trachea.
• Check the mobility of the cervical spine in both flexion and
extension.
Why would this man’s airway
be difficult to manage?
THE EXAMINATION

2. Simple bedside tests

- Mallampati criteria
- Thyromental distance - < 7 cm suggests difficult
intubation
3. X-rays
- lateral X-ray of the head and neck
- reduced distance between the occiput and the spinous
process of C 1 (< 5 mm) and an increase in the posterior
depth of the mandible (> 2.5 cm)
None of these tests, alone or in combination,
predict all difficult intubations
 Airway Evaluation

• Jaw Movement
– Both inter-incisor gap and
anterior subluxation
– <3.5cm inter-incisor gap
concerning
– Inability to sublux lower
incisors beyond upper
incisors
• Receding mandible
• Protruding Maxillary
Incisors (buck teeth)
Airway Evaluation
• Oropharyngeal visualization
• Mallampati Score
• Sitting position, protrude tongue, don’t say
“AHH”
THE EXAMINATION

2. Simple bedside tests

- Wilson score
- Mallampati criteria
- Thyromental distance - < 7 cm suggests difficult intubation
3. X-rays
- lateral X-ray of the head and neck
- reduced distance between the occiput and the spinous
process of C 1 (< 5 mm) and an increase in the posterior
depth of the mandible (> 2.5 cm)
None of these tests, alone or in combination,
predict all difficult intubations
Thyromental distance
THE EXAMINATION

2. Simple bedside tests

- Wilson score
- Mallampati criteria
- Thyromental distance - < 7 cm suggests difficult intubation
3. X-rays
- lateral X-ray of the head and neck
- reduced distance between the occiput and the spinous process
of C 1 (< 5 mm) and an increase in the posterior depth of the
mandible (> 2.5 cm)
None of these tests, alone or in combination,
predict all difficult intubations
Investigations
Special Investigations
• If no concurrent disease, investigations can be
limited as:
Baseline investigations
Age Sex Investigations
<40 Male Nil
<40 Female Hb
41-60 Male ECG, Blood sugar, creatinine
41-60 Female Hb, ECG, Blood sugar, creatinine
>61 All Hb, ECG, Blood sugar, creatinine
ADDITIONAL INVESTIGATIONS

• Urea and electrolytes

– in patients taking digoxin
– diuretics
– diabetes, renal disease
– vomiting
– diarrhoea
• Liver function tests
– hepatic disease
– high alcohol
– metastatic disease
– evidence of malnutrition
ADDITIONAL INVESTIGATIONS

• Blood sugar
– Diabetes
– peripheral arterial disease
– taking long-term steroids
• Electrocardiogram (ECG)
– hypertensive
– with symptoms or signs of heart disease
• Chest X-ray
• Pulmonary function tests
• Coagulation screen
• Sickle-cell screen
Referral
Medical referral

• Optimization of coexisting medical (or surgical)

problems may mean postponing surgery
Medical referral

• CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE
– Untreated or poorly controlled hypertension or heart failure.
– Symptomatic ischaemic heart disease, (unstable angina).
– Dysrhythmias: uncontrolled atrial fibrillation, paroxysmal
supraventricular tachycardia, second and third degree heart
block.
– congenital heart disease or symptomatic valvular heart
disease
Medical referral

• RESPIRATORY DISEASE
– Chronic obstructive airways disease, if dyspnoeic at rest.
– Bronchiectasis
– Asthmatics
• unstable
• taking oral steroids or
• have a FEV1 % 60% predicted
Medical referral

• ENDOCRINE DISORDERS
– Insulin and non-insulin dependent diabetics
– ketonuria
– random blood sugar > 12mmol/L
– Hypo- or hyperthyroidism
– Cushing's
– Addison's disease
– Hypopituitarism
Medical referral

• RENAL DISEASE
– Chronic renal failure
– Patients undergoing chronic dialysis
• HAEMATOLOGICAL DISORDERS
– Bleeding diatheses
• haemophilia
• thrombocytopenia
– Therapeutic anticoagulation
– Haemoglobinopathies
– Polycythaemia
– Haemolytic anaemias
– Leukaemias
FACTORES INCREASED RISK OF
MORTALITY
INCREASED RISK OF MORTALITY

• Inadequate preoperative preparation including

resuscitation
• Lack of and inappropriate monitoring during surgery
• Poor postoperative care, including lack of intensive
care beds
• Inadequate supervision of trainees
Mortality related to anaesthesia

• Approx 1:26,000 anaesthetics

• One third of deaths are preventable
• Causes in order of frequency
– inadequate patient preparation
– inadequate postoperative management
– wrong choice of anaesthetic technique
– inadequate crisis management
ANAESTHETIC ASSOCIATED DEATHS

• Increasing age: >60 years

• Sex: male > female
• Worsening physical status
• Increasing number of concurrent medical conditions,
in particular:
– myocardial infarction
– diabetes mellitus
ANAESTHETIC ASSOCIATED DEATHS

• renal disease
• Increasing complexity of surgery:
– intracranial
– major vascular
– intrathoracic
• Increasing length of surgery
• Emergency operations
ASA PHYSICAL STATUS SCALE
Class Physical status
I A healthy patient with no organic or
psychological disease process. The
pathological process for which operation is
performed is localized and causes no systemic
upset

II A patient with a mild to moderate systemic disease

process caused by the condition to be treated
surgically or other pathological process which does not limit
the patient's activities in any way, e.g. treated hypertensive,
stable diabetic. Patients aged >80 years are automatically
placed in class 11
ASA PHYSICAL STATUS SCALE

Class Physical status

III A patient with severe systemic disease from any cause which
imposes a definite functional limitation on activity, e.g. ischaemic heart
disease, chronic obstructive lung disease

IV A patient with a severe systemic disease which is a constant threat to

life, e.g. unstable angina

V A moribund patient, unlikely to survive 24 hours with or without surgery

  Note:'E' maybe added to signify an emergency operation.

ASA STATUS AND POSTOPERATIVE MORTALITY

 
ASA class Absolute mortality (I) Crude mortality per
10 000 anaesthetics

I 0.1 7.2
II 0.2 19.7
III 1.8 115.1
IV 7.8 766.2
V 9.4 3358.0
Informing the patient
Informing the patient

Anaesthetist has only a brief time Explain the events to

the patient (preoperative period )

Most patients will want to know how long starved prior

to surgery in terms of eating and drinking
Informing the patient

The choice of anaesthetic technique rests

with the anaesthetist, but most patients
appreciate some details of what to expect
Informing the patient

• patients will ask about their immediate recovery

• Finally
– reassure patients about postoperative pain control
– informed of the technique
• Consent for anaesthesia
Premedication
The 6 As of premedication

• Anxiolysis – the best anxiolytic is the anesthetist

who visits the patient and listens to the patient
• Amnesia
• Anti-emetic
• Antacid
• Anti-autonomic
• Analgesic
Premedication

• Anxiolysis
– benzodiazepines
– phenothiazines
– B-blockers
• Amnesia
– lorazepam
anterograde amnesia
Premedication

• Anti-emetic
– dopamine antagonists
– antihistamines
– anticholinergics
– phenothiazines
– 5-hydroxytryptamine antagonists
– a2- agonists: clonidine, Dex
Premedication
• Antacid
• Patients who have received opiates
• present as emergencies
• If in pain
• delayed gastric emptying
• hiatus hernia
– Oral sodium citrate
– Ranitidine , Proton inhibitors
– Metoclopramide
– naso- or orogastric tube
Premedication
• Anti-autonomic
– Parasympathetic reflexes
• Excessive vagal activity causing profound bradycardia
• halothane
• suxamethonium
• surgery
• traction on the extraocular muscles
• handling of the viscera
• during elevation of a fractured zygoma
ANALGESIA