Importance of pre-anesthetic evaluation: case report of a patient with obstructive sleep apnea.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES The objective of this report was to show the importance of pre-anesthetic assessment in reducing morbidity and mortality of surgical patients and alert to problems and anesthetic care associated with obstructive sleep apnea. CASE REPORT This is a 28-year old male patient with class II obesity, sleep apnea, hypertension, referred to the pre-anesthetic outpatient clinic for evaluation of uvuloplasty under general anesthesia. After orientation on sleep apnea, explaining to the patient the risks associated with the procedure, and discussing with the surgeon, we decided to review the surgical indication and postpone the procedure. CONCLUSIONS The pre-anesthetic outpatient clinic is extremely important in reducing morbidity as well as mortality of surgical patients and, especially, in evaluating patients with obstructive sleep apnea, showing to be fundamental for the anesthetic-surgical schedule, orienting conducts to be followed, and interfering positively on patient prognosis.