RESEARCH ARTICLE
Pre-Operative Assessment and Post-Operative Care in Elective Shoulder Surgery
Ahsan Akhtar*, Robert J MacFarlane , Mohammad Waseem
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2013Volume: 7
Issue: Suppl 3
First Page: 316
Last Page: 322
Publisher ID: TOORTHJ-7-316
DOI: 10.2174/1874325001307010316
Article History:
Received Date: 5/11/2012Revision Received Date: 24/11/2012
Acceptance Date: 1/12/2012
Electronic publication date: 6/9/2013
Collection year: 2013

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/) which permits unrestrictive use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Pre-operative assessment is required prior to the majority of elective surgical procedures, primarily to ensure that the patient is fit to undergo surgery, whilst identifying issues that may need to be dealt with by the surgical or anaesthetic teams. The post-operative management of elective surgical patients begins during the peri-operative period and involves several health professionals. Appropriate monitoring and repeated clinical assessments are required in order for the signs of surgical complications to be recognised swiftly and adequately.
This article examines the literature regarding pre-operative assessment in elective orthopaedic surgery and shoulder surgery, whilst also reviewing the essentials of peri- and post-operative care. The need to recognise common post-operative complications early and promptly is also evaluated, along with discussing thromboprophylaxis and post-operative analgesia following shoulder surgery.