Perioperative Medicine Clinic

Patients undergoing major surgery, those who are elderly or have certain pre-existing medical conditions will be asked to visit our anaesthetist led perioperative medicine clinic where you will be invited to undertake a Cardiopulmonary Pulmonary Exercise Test to assess you baseline level of fitness.

The main aims of the Perioperative Medicine Clinic are to:

  1. Look at your personalised risks with or without surgery and how these may affect your quality of life.
  2. Identify your expectations from surgery
  3. Identify your personal preference

More information about your surgical risk and shared decision making consultations can be found on the Understanding your risk and Shared decision-making pages.

Cardiopulmonary Exercising Testing

A cardiopulmonary exercise test is used to assess your baseline level of fitness for surgery by evaluating how your lungs, heart and muscles react to exercise. First we will take some breathing measurements by asking you to breath through a special mouthpiece. You be asked to cycle on an exercise bike whilst wearing a facemask for approximately 10 to 15 minutes. The test is designed so the more you do, the more information is gained and this helps plan your surgical pathway and postoperative care.

For more information about Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing, select this link to read our information leaflet.

Anaemia

If you are found to be Anaemic during your preoperative assessment, the perioperative medicine team may require you to start iron therapy prior to your surgery if iron deficiency is thought to be the cause. The therapy can be in the form of iron tablets (which you can take at home) if your surgery is more than 4 weeks away or in the form of an intravenous iron infusion (for which you will be given a hospital appointment to come in to receive) if your surgical date is within 4 weeks. Your GP will be informed of the iron treatment via a letter.