Older heart attack patients should delay elective surgeries for three to six months, experts say They face double to triple the risk of life-threatening complications if they undergo surgery too soon after a heart attack Current guidelines call for waiting two months FRIDAY, Nov. 1, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Seniors who’ve had a should probably delay any elective surgeries for three to six months, a new study advises. People aged 67 and older face double to triple the risk of life-threatening complications -- like a stroke or a second heart attack -- if they move forward with elective surgery too soon following a heart attack, researchers found.
The new study shows that current guidelines likely are too loose, the study authors noted. Currently, heart attack patients are told to wait two months before undergoing any elective surgery, researchers said in background notes. But those guidelines are based on data more than 20 years old, from a study of 500,000 patients conducted between 1999 and 2004, researchers said.
“The data physicians are using for patient care decisions today is outdated,” said lead researcher , a professor of anesthesiology and perioperative medicine and public health sciences at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC). “Given the advances in care and the ever-changing mix of patients, clinicians need the latest information.” For the new study, researchers analyzed Medicare claims data between 2015 and 2020 for 5.
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