Cardiovascular assessment for non-cardiac surgery: European guidelines.

In 2014, a joint task force involving the European Society of Cardiology and European Society of Anaesthesiology assembled 'Guidelines on non-cardiac surgery: cardiovascular assessment and management'. The guidelines, subsequently published in the European Heart Journal, are intended for physicians and collaborators involved in the perioperative care of patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery, in whom heart disease is a potential source of complications. While the guidelines are an extremely relevant and useful aid for most, if not all, medics within the hospital environment, the sheer size of the document (49 pages) renders it a feat to read and digest. Given the importance of the document for optimizing patient care, this article condenses the guidelines down to help highlight the important details.