Resting echocardiography has a clear role for resolving diagnostic questions in surgical patients, such as identifying the basis for suspicious systolic murmurs or new dyspnea on exertion. Outside these indications, resting echocardiography does not contribute significant additional prognostic information to usual clinical evaluation. It is not useful as a screening tool to identify surgical patients at risk for cardiac complications.
Sources:
Fleisher LA, et al. 2014 ACC/AHA guideline on perioperative cardiovascular evaluation and management of patients undergoing noncardiac surgery: a report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines. Circulation. 2014 Dec 9;130(24):e278-333. PMID: 25085961.
Halm EA, et al. Echocardiography for assessing cardiac risk in patients having noncardiac surgery. Ann Intern Med. 1996 Sep 15;125(6):433-41. PMID: 8779454.
Kristensen SD, et al. 2014 ESC/ESA Guidelines on non-cardiac surgery: cardiovascular assessment and management: The Joint Task Force on non-cardiac surgery: cardiovascular assessment and management of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the European Society of Anaesthesiology (ESA). Eur Heart J. 2014 Sep 14;35(35):2383-431. PMID: 25086026.
Wijeysundera DN, et al. Association of echocardiography before major elective non-cardiac surgery with postoperative survival and length of hospital stay: population based cohort study. BMJ. 2011 Jun 30;342:d3695. PMID: 21724560.
Related Resources:
Patient Pamphlet: Echocardiogram Before Surgery: When you need it and when you don’t
Toolkit: Drop the Pre-Op – A toolkit for reducing unnecessary visits and investigations in pre-operative clinics