How do you approach balancing the risks and benefits of elective surgery with patients who have multiple co-morbidities (e.g., frailty, chronic kidney disease, and COPD), when standard risk calculators do not capture the full complexity of their condition?

This is definitely a concern, and tools/calculators can only take us so far. I have come across scenarios where, the e.g., pulmonary respiratory failure calculator provided a low score, and based on the history, I thought the patient was at high risk. A few weeks later, before the surgery, the patie...

Good question - Risk stratifying medically complex patients is a common and challenging scenario. The process should begin with a thorough review of the patient’s individual conditions, ensuring each is appropriately optimized to the extent possible. From there, factors to consider include the numbe...