[The perioperative period: how drugs should be managed?]

Medication use during the perioperative period can raise problems in surgical patients. Elderly patients are especially at risk because of polymedication. Risks pertaining to each drug should be carefully evaluated. For example, several drugs can affect coagulation and discontinuation of others can lead to withdrawal symptoms. We suggest here recommendations based on recent publications. It should be kept in mind that, apart from the drug itself, the patient status as well as the surgical procedure also influence the decision to stop or continue a medication. Moreover, it is important to plan to restart any discontinued drug in order to avoid unintended treatment failure after hospital discharge.