Article Text
Articles
Surgery and long-term medication
Abstract
Many patients are receiving medication unrelated to their surgical condition when they are admitted for surgery. This article discusses when these drugs should be stopped, continued or modified before and after the operation. Although the anaesthetist and the surgeon are primarily concerned with these decisions, they are often left to the surgical houseman. The general practitioner has the best information about the patient’s long-term medication, and is usually called on to provide it.