Perioperative Stroke Risk Model —One Size Fits All?

The article by Glance et al is an important and timely contribution to the field of perioperative medicine. While evidence-based consensus statements help guide clinicians to make the best decisions for patients, they are only as good as the data and populations on which they are based. In these cases, overestimation of risk of perioperative stroke might lead to unnecessary surgical delays, especially for semiurgent surgeries (ie, cancer), and unnecessary intraoperative neurological monitoring and may significantly impact patient care and health care system cost. Furthermore, while we now have a better understanding of the risks that lead to perioperative stroke (ie, carotid stenosis) and their effect on mortality/morbidity, it is still unclear whether or not treating the inciting factor (ie, carotid endarterectomy) will reduce perioperative stroke risk to baseline.
Source: JAMA Surgery - Category: Sports Medicine Source Type: research