Skip to content
+1 305 209 0001Doral, Florida · Viva CentersEspañol
Viva Centers
Book an appointment

Preoperative Evaluation

For adults 18 and older, a preoperative review looks for health issues that could change surgical risk or timing. It does not approve surgery and cannot promise that a date will stay, move, or be cancelled. The provider responsible for anesthesia makes the anesthesia plan. Healthy adults having low-risk surgery do not automatically need blood panels or an ECG. Do not stop a medicine or supplement until the responsible teams give you a plan.

Symptoms and questions to discuss

  • Chest pain, breathlessness, fainting, or a drop in your usual activity
  • A recent hospital stay, bleeding problem, or prior anesthesia difficulty
  • Doubt about which medicines and supplements to take or hold

What we check

  • Procedure, planned date, and the surgical team’s risk note when you have it
  • Activity level, heart and lung symptoms, past anesthesia trouble, and bleeding history
  • Each prescription, nonprescription medicine, and supplement, and who directs it

Treatment options by class

Your provider reviews appropriate options and follow-up based on your assessment.

  • A written plan for medicines and supplements to continue, change, or restart
  • Review of blood pressure, blood sugar, breathing, or sleep problems already in care
  • Selected outside tests, with procedure questions returned to the surgeon

When we refer

The anesthesia team owns the anesthesia plan. This note does not approve surgery. Chest pain, severe breathlessness, or fainting needs emergency care now, not a routine visit. Do not change bleeding or blood-sugar medicines without a written plan. Confirm test method, availability, location, and cost before nonurgent work. ECG, imaging, or laboratory testing may require outside coordination; confirm receipt and result ownership. This program does not provide surgery or anesthesia.

Purpose of the review

Begin with the planned operation. History and examination look for heart, lung, bleeding, or activity limits that change risk. Stairs and housework describe capacity. They do not approve surgery. With heart disease, worrying symptoms, or a higher-risk procedure, a validated tool can show whether more testing would help. Stress testing is not routine when risk is low, activity is preserved, or the procedure is low risk. An abnormal result is not itself a heart procedure.

Tests are not automatic

Skip baseline blood counts, metabolic panels, and clotting studies for adults without significant systemic disease, low-risk surgery, and little expected blood loss or fluid shift. Stable heart disease without symptoms does not need baseline heart ultrasound or stress testing before low- or moderate-risk noncardiac surgery. Skip routine A1C without diabetes. Include an A1C from the past three months when diabetes is known. Reserve ECG for active heart symptoms or higher-risk surgery, and chest radiography for new heart or lung symptoms, not every low-risk case. Any indicated laboratory test needs confirmation of method, draw location, availability, and cost before nonurgent work. Outside testing may be needed when it would change a decision.

Medicines and who owns results

Bring every medicine and supplement. Some continue and some must change. The responsible teams write the morning-of-surgery plan and the restart. Stopping early, or continuing a medicine that should be held, can each cause harm. Clotting medicines need an individual plan. Name who reviews each test and how an urgent result reaches you and the procedural teams. A sent note is not proof of receipt. Mention possible pregnancy so any test is done with consent.

Recovery and direct emergency care

Later primary care can review blood pressure, blood sugar, medicines, and function. The wound, drains, surgery-specific limits, and complications stay with the surgical team. Get their nonemergency number first. Use emergency care for chest pain, sudden breathlessness, fainting, or a wound with increasing redness, bleeding, foul drainage, or an opening. Do not save those for a booked visit. No hospital partner is named here.

Frequently asked questions

Does this visit approve surgery?

No. It shares findings and recommendations. The surgical team decides whether and when to operate. The anesthesia team decides the anesthesia plan.

Are blood tests and an ECG always required?

No. Many healthy adults having low-risk surgery do not need them. Match any test to symptoms, known illness, or procedure risk.

Should I stop medicines before the visit?

No. Wait for a written plan from your prescribing clinicians and the surgical and anesthesia teams. Bring the full list, including supplements.

Who reviews a preoperative result?

Ask before leaving. You should know the reviewer and how an important result reaches you. Bring outside reports, and do not assume the surgical office has them.

Can Viva perform the operation?

No. This program does not provide surgery or anesthesia. Emergency signs go directly to the emergency department even if a surgeon is not yet scheduled.

Sources

Content approved by Viva Centers

Preoperative Evaluation | Viva Centers