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British Journal of Anaesthesia 2004 93(4):495-497; doi:10.1093/bja/aeh230
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© The Board of Management and Trustees of the British Journal of Anaesthesia 2004

Editorial I: Guidelines for routine preoperative testing

J. Carlisle

Department of Anaesthesia, Torbay Hospital, Torquay, UK

J. Langham

Health Services Research Unit, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK

G. Thoms*

Department of Anaesthesia, Manchester Royal Infirmary, Manchester, M13 9WL, UK

* Corresponding author. E-mail: gavin.thoms@man.ac.uk

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

‘This guidance ... was arrived at after careful consideration of the evidence available. Health professionals are expected to take it fully into account when exercising their clinical judgement.’1

The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) released a Guideline in June 2003 for professionals who order routine tests before operations, together with guidance on the subject for patients. In the autumn of 2004, it seems reasonable to ask whether things have changed. Did the NICE Guideline change practice? Has unreasonable variation in preoperative testing now ended? Do junior doctors now always consult the pocket version of the Guideline when uncertain about ordering preoperative tests?

Anaesthetists and other clinicians were deeply involved in producing this Guideline, in contrast with previous efforts to investigate the issue. The Acute Care National Collaborating Centre (NCCAC), within The Royal College of Surgeons worked directly with the Royal Colleges of Anaesthetists, Surgeons, Pathologists, Radiologists, Ophthalmologists, . . . [Full Text of this Article]


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