Preoperative assessment and investigation

Preoperative assessment forms an integral precursor to the surgical process. It provides the opportunity to assess acute illness, optimize chronic disease where appropriate, assess risk and structure perioperative management. During the assessment process, consideration should be made of surgical complexity, the severity of specific co-morbidities and an individual's functional capacity. The process of assessment requires the adoption of basic clinical skills, targeted investigations and also the use of functional assessment tools, including cardiopulmonary exercise testing.