Heart Failure- Anesthesia management

Description

Congestive heart failure is a complex clinical syndrome characterized by impaired ventricular performance, exercise intolerance, high incidence of ventricular arrhythmias and shortened life expectancy. More patients with the condition are presenting for surgery in both elective and emergency settings. A clinical anesthesiologist will encounter patients with CHF. Careful preoperative assessment, appropriate monitoring  and good understanding of the underlying physiological principles is necessary to manage these patients appropriately in the perioperative period and minimise their risk of complications.The understanding of this complex illness is steadily improving and the medical armamentarium to alleviate symptoms and improve outcome is expanding.