Preoperative evaluation of patients undergoing lung resection surgery. defining the role of the anesthesiologist on a multidisciplinary team

In the field of thoracic surgery, one of the key problems in lung resection is the management and function of the residual lung, which has the potential to interfere with both the pulmonary and cardiovascular systems, and, therefore, influence surgical outcome in terms of morbidity and mortality. Between 2007 and 2013, 5 papers addressing preoperative evaluation and risk stratification were published.1-5 However, the members of the task forces responsible for these documents did not include all the professionals involved in the preoperative surgical evaluation, and the documents mainly addressed the stratification of respiratory risk. In 2014, new guidelines6,7 addressing cardiac risk assessment in the perioperative period were published and proposed new and distinct approaches, rendering the literature on the assessment and risk stratification of thoracic surgery patients even more confusing. Guidelinesare important because they have the potential to improve outcomes and quality of care, especially in high-risk surgical patients (HRSPs), and also improve the management of healthcare resource