METHODS: An electronic survey was used to sample a cross-section of local clinicians regarding the perioperative management of patients with an indwelling coronary artery stent. The reiterative Consensus-Oriented Decision-Making model was applied by an institutional task force with representation from anesthesiology, cardiology, primary care medicine, and surgery.
RESULTS: Significant disagreement existed among the multidisciplinary survey respondents regarding various aspects of the perioperative management of patients with indwelling coronary artery stents.
CONCLUSIONS: We clarified the perioperative risk factors for coronary stent thrombosis and an alternate process for immediate access to a cardiac catheterization laboratory at our institution.