[Perioperative beta-receptor blockade. For and against]

Results from recent studies have questioned the application of beta-receptor blockers for reduction of morbidity and mortality during the perioperative period. This holds true especially for patients with no or only low cardiac risk. Although beta-receptor blockade was a form of standard therapy at the end of the 1990s, data today show no clear evidence for such a therapy not even in patients at risk for cardiac events. At least in patients with low risk the initiation of beta-receptor blockade during the perioperative period might lead to side-effects, thereby increasing morbidity and mortality.