Who does Preoperative Anesthetic Evaluation, When and Where ? -1 —A Method in a Teaching Hospital

Since preoperative visit, physical examination and explanation of anesthetics procedure are time-consuming and inefficient, many hospitals have abandoned this traditional method and switched to evaluating at preoperative outpatient clinics. As a result, the anesthesiologist who examines the patient is not always the anesthesiologist in charge. At our institute, anesthesiologists and/or trainees in charge still visit patients at bedside to perform a routine preoperative anesthetic evaluation. Patients who need extra evaluation go to a preoperative consultation clinic in advance. Favorable responses were obtained from 60 patients in a survey of preoperative visits, but they requested the explanation in plain Japanese without technical terms and further consideration of their privacy. In Japan, trainees start their first year of residency from the Division of Anesthesia and Emergency Care. Trainees can learn basic skills as a general physician from preoperative visits. We believe this traditional way of preoperative evaluation is still useful in the teaching hospital when the above points are improved.