Evidence mapPaperPMID 25008311Full record

ReviewDeutsches Arzteblatt international2014

Preoperative risk assessment--from routine tests to individualized investigation.

Andreas B Böhmer, Frank Wappler, Bernd Zwissler

Open access · greenAbstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Deutsches Arzteblatt international, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
22citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
3.6field-weighted citation impact, top 6% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

22 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 48 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pain During Venous Cannulation.Deutsches Arzteblatt international · 2017
    Trial
  4. Article
  5. 2024 EACTS/EACTAIC Guidelines on patient blood management in adult cardiac surgery in collaboration with EBCP.European journal of cardio-thoracic surgery : official journal of the European Association for Cardio-thoracic Surgery · 2025
    Article
  6. Article
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  9. [Fragility Fractures: Preoperative assessment and optimisation].Zeitschrift fur Gerontologie und Geriatrie · 2024
    Article
  10. Review
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  12. Review
  13. Review
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  20. Questionable statement.Deutsches Arzteblatt international · 2015
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Andreas B BöhmerUniversity Hospital Witten/Herdecke-Cologne, Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine at the Hospital Cologne-Merheim, Department of Anesthesiology, Ludwig-Maximilian-Universität, Munich.
Frank Wappler
Bernd Zwissler
Witten/Herdecke University · DELudwig-Maximilians-Universität München · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundRisk assessment in adults who are about to undergo elective surgery (other than cardiac and thoracic procedures) involves history-taking, physical examination, and ancillary studies performed for individual indications. Further testing beyond the history and physical examination is often of low predictive value for perioperative complications.

methodThis review is based on pertinent articles that were retrieved by a selective search in the Medline and Cochrane Library databases and on the consensus-derived recommendations of the German specialty societies.

resultsThe history and physical examination remain the central components of preoperative risk assessment. Advanced age is not, in itself, a reason for ancillary testing. Laboratory testing should be performed only if relevant organ disease is known or suspected, or to assess the potential side effects of pharmacotherapy. Electrocardiography as a screening test seems to add little relevant information, even in patients with stable heart disease. A chest X-ray should be obtained only if a disease is suspected whose detection would have clinical consequences in the perioperative period.

conclusionIn preoperative risk assessment, the history and physical examination are the strongest predictors of perioperative complications. Ancillary tests are indicated on an individual basis if the history and physical examination reveal that significant disease may be present.

Indexed as

Cardiovascular DiseasesEvidence-Based MedicineGermanyHumansInternationalityMedical History TakingPhysical ExaminationPostoperative ComplicationsPreoperative CarePrognosisRisk Assessment

Identifiers

PMID25008311
PMCPMC4095591
OpenAlexW2149673978

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.