Despite heparin and despite having all patients on intensive/intermediate care units, cardiac events are the major cause for new perioperative morbidity/mortality in patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery after coronary artery stenting. The complication rate exceeds the re-occlusion rate of stents in patients without surgery (usually <1% annually). Patients with coronary artery stenting less than 35 days before surgery are at the greatest risk.

A single postoperative NT-proBNP determination provides important additional prognostic information to preoperative levels and may support therapeutic decisions to prevent subsequent structural myocardial damage.

No abstract

Postoperative hypercoagulability, occurring for at least 1 wk after major abdominal surgery, may be demonstrated by standard and modified thromboelastography. This hypercoagulability is not reflected by standard coagulation monitoring and seems to be predominantly caused by increased platelet reactivity.

The subjective assessment by an experienced anesthesiologist as expressed by the ASA-score is a valid method in the determination of the perioperative risk. CRI does not contribute additional information for the general perioperative risk.