Herbal medicines and perioperative care

Widespread use of herbal medications among the presurgical population may have a negative impact on perioperative patient care.

To review the literature on commonly used herbal medications in the context of the perioperative period and provide rational strategies for managing their preoperative use.

The MEDLINE and Cochrane Collaboration databases were searched for articles published between January 1966 and December 2000 using the search terms herbal medicine, phytotherapy, and alternative medicine and the names of the 16 most commonly used herbal medications. Additional data sources were obtained from manual searches of recent journal articles and textbooks.

We selected studies, case reports, and reviews addressing the safety and pharmacology of 8 commonly used herbal medications for which safety information pertinent to the perioperative period was available.

We extracted safety, pharmacodynamic, and pharmacokinetic information from the selected literature and reached consensus about any discrepancies.

Echinacea, ephedra, garlic, ginkgo, ginseng, kava, St John's wort, and valerian are commonly used herbal medications that may pose a concern during the perioperative period. Complications can arise from these herbs' direct and pharmacodynamic or pharmacokinetic effects. Direct effects include bleeding from garlic, ginkgo, and ginseng; cardiovascular instability from ephedra; and hypoglycemia from ginseng. Pharmacodynamic herb-drug interactions include potentiation of the sedative effect of anesthetics by kava and valerian. Pharmacokinetic herb-drug interactions include increased metabolism of many drugs used in the perioperative period by St John's wort.

During the preoperative evaluation, physicians should explicitly elicit and document a history of herbal medication use. Physicians should be familiar with the potential perioperative effects of the commonly used herbal medications to prevent, recognize, and treat potentially serious problems associated with their use and discontinuation.