Acta anaesthesiologica Scandinavica
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Nov 2022
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyThe effects of preoperative focused cardiac ultrasound in high-risk patients: A randomised controlled trial (PREOPFOCUS).
Surgery is the third most common cause of mortality worldwide. Focused cardiac ultrasound (FOCUS) yields information on cardiac status and discloses the presence of unknown pathology. Preoperative FOCUS changes patient treatment, allowing for a patient-tailored anaesthesia. We hypothesised that preoperative FOCUS would reduce the proportion of patients who were either admitted to hospital for more than 10 days or who were dead within 30 days after high-risk, non-cardiac surgery. ⋯ The routine availability of preoperative FOCUS assessment in this cohort does not appear to reduce the risk for hospitalisation exceeding 10 days or 30-day mortality, although study enrolment was prematurely terminated.