[Implementation of a Preanesthetic Evaluation Service in a University Hospital: difficulties and results.]

Preoperative evaluation is the key for a good preoperative preparation and intraoperative handling. When done in the outpatient clinic, it allows for better analysis and further investigation, improving the quality of the preparation and decreasing hospital costs. The aim of this study was to analyze the implementation of the Serviço de Avaliação Pré-Anestésica (SAPAN Preanesthetic - Service) in a University Hospital, and to determine the difficulties and positive results.

The data regarding patients seen at the SAPAN clinic, by the residents, under the supervision of an attending physician, in the first nine months after its implementation was reviewed. The consultation followed a standard form. At the end of the preanesthetic evaluation, patients were either cleared for surgery or referred to other specialties for the treatment of specific diseases. The items analyzed were: number of patients evaluated, number of elective surgeries performed during this period, surgical specialties involved, percentage of patients whose surgeries were cancelled due to the need to control underlying diseases, and clinical specialties requested the most to evaluate and treat those patients.

Nine hundred and thirteen outpatient consultations and 5,409 elective surgeries were performed. In 11.9% of the cases, the surgeries were cancelled for medical reasons, and the most frequent specialties involved were cardiology (43.08%), pneumology (25.74%), hematology (21.65%), and endocrinology (9.52%).

Although the majority of patients was not referred by the surgical specialties, the initial SAPAN data demonstrated the benefits of a preanesthetic evaluation service.