According to a study published in the journal Anesthesiology, over 8 million adults worldwide have injuries or heart attacks after surgery each year, with 10% dying within 30 days. Now, researchers say 85% of these heart attacks or injuries may be missed due to lack of symptoms. However, they suggest this could be resolved with a simple blood test following surgery.
Symptoms of a heart attack can range from sudden and intense pain to mild discomfort, according to the American Heart Association (AHA).
Some of the most common signs of a heart attack include chest discomfort, pain in other areas of the upper body - including the back, neck or jaw - shortness of breath, or feeling lightheaded or experiencing nausea.
However, not everyone experiences these warning signs.
The latest study, led by Dr. PJ Devereaux, head of cardiology at the Juravinski Hospital and Cancer Centre in Ontario, Canada, found that only 15% of patients who have post-surgery heart attacks experience "traditional symptoms."
Dr. Devereaux explains:
"Most surgical patients who suffer a heart attack or injury will do so within the first 48 hours after surgery. During this time, most of these patients are typically taking pain medications, which can mask the symptoms of a serious heart injury."
He and his team suggest that a new diagnosis, called Myocardial Injury after Noncardiac Surgery (MINS), would be helpful for doctors because it includes a broader definition of the traditional one currently used to diagnose heart attacks.
They say using the traditional definition of a heart attack would result in 50% of serious post-surgery heart attacks or injuries going undetected, which would affect patient survival chances.
Measuring troponin levels to detect heart injury
The team assessed over 15,000 patients older than 45 during the first 3 days following non-cardiac surgery. All of these patients had a simple blood test measuring troponin - a protein released into the blood when the heart is injured.
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