Assessment of functional capacity before major non-cardiac surgery: an international, prospective cohort study

Publication date: 30 June–6 July 2018Source: The Lancet, Volume 391, Issue 10140Author(s): Duminda N Wijeysundera, Rupert M Pearse, Mark A Shulman, Tom E F Abbott, Elizabeth Torres, Althea Ambosta, Bernard L Croal, John T Granton, Kevin E Thorpe, Michael P W Grocott, Catherine Farrington, Paul S Myles, Brian H Cuthbertson, Sophie Wallace, Bruce Thompson, Mathew Ellis, Brigette Borg, Ross K Kerridge, Jeanene Douglas, John BrannanSummaryBackgroundFunctional capacity is an important component of risk assessment for major surgery. Doctors' clinical subjective assessment of patients' functional capacity has uncertain accuracy. We did a study to compare preoperative subjective assessment with alternative markers of fitness (cardiopulmonary exercise testing [CPET], scores on the Duke Activity Status Index [DASI] questionnaire, and serum N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide [NT pro-BNP] concentrations) for predicting death or complications after major elective non-cardiac surgery.MethodsWe did a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study at 25 hospitals: five in Canada, seven in the UK, ten in Australia, and three in New Zealand. We recruited adults aged at least 40 years who were scheduled for major non-cardiac surgery and deemed to have one or more risk factors for cardiac complications (eg, a history of heart failure, stroke, or diabetes) or coronary artery disease. Functional capacity was subjectively assessed in units of metabolic equivalents of tasks by the res...
Source: The Lancet - Category: General Medicine Source Type: research