Perioperative medicine
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DEFINITION
The consultation, care, or co-management of a patient undergoing surgery that is provided by an internal medicine generalist or hospitalist.
BACKGROUND
Perioperative medicine encompasses the care of the patient preparing for, having and recuperating from surgery. In the practice of perioperative medicine the surgeon, anesthesiologist, and medical consultant work in concert. The medical knowledge distinct to this field includes that of operative risk and complications, of patient specific risks, of methods to reduce risk, and of the management of medical illness during this time period. Evidence supporting best practices in perioperative medicine is expanding, though historically this field has been directed by common practice and experience. It remains a field governed primarily by the art of medicine.1
REFERENCES: 1. Personal Communication, Rachel Thompson, M.D. 2. "Perioperative Care." A Special Supplement to The Hospitalist, Official Publication of the Society of Hospital Medicine, 2004
