Background and Objectives: Coronary artery disease (CAD) patients are at greater perioperative morbidity and mortality risk during non-cardiac surgery. Specific laboratory tests are important adjuncts to clinical tests and should be one of the tools for evaluating and preparing those patients. This review aims at establishing preoperative procedures to minimize peri and postoperative morbidity and mortality in CAD patients. Contents: Characteristics of stable and unstable chest anginas are presented, along with clinical and functional classification criteria, diagnosis, clinical-surgical therapy and major cardiologic laboratory tests. In addition, types of angina are correlated to clinical procedures in order to propose a preoperative algorithm. Conclusions: All CAD patients being considered for non-cardiac surgery should be carefully evaluated. Patients at high-risk require effective clinical control. For clinically stable patients, in the intermediate-risk group, functional non-invasive tests are recommended. The use of beta-blockers should be considered for all coronary patients.
DISEASE, Cardiac; PREANESTHETIC EVALUATION
