The Preoperative Medication Management
The use of medications preoperatively is currently very widespread. Approximately 50% of patients undergoing surgery take regular medications, with an average of 2.1 drugs per patient. The most common types of medication in regular use are those for the treatment of cardiovascular, central nervous system and gastrointestinal disorders. The mean number of medications increases with age, vascular and other major procedures. Of these medications, 45% have some potential interaction with anaesthetic agents and surgery during the perioperative period, which may lead to bleeding, hemodynamic instability, higher anaesthetic consumption, delayed recovery from anaesthesia or respiratory, hepatic and renal complications. Thus, the management of chronic preoperative medication presents a serious challenge for all anesthesiologists and surgeons. However, clinical and strong evidence-based guidelines regarding the preoperative medication management are limited, and there is no consensus on the optimal strategy. Many pharmaceutical companies show little interest in evaluating drug interactions and because of ethical problems, it is not appropriate to conduct evidence-based clinical research.
Yonca Yanli
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