ECG Changes in the Elderly Urology Patients during Pre-Operative Assessment in Ibadan Nigeria

Introduction: Electrocardiograph (ECG) is an important screening tool used to identify significant ECG changes that may alter perioperative management. Objective: To find out the pattern of ECG changes in the elderly urology patients during the pre-operative review in a tertiary centre. Study design and method: This was a prospective study of elderly urology patients recruited consecutively at the urology clinic during the pre anaesthetic review over a period of one year. Result: ECG recordings from 60 elderly patients with age ranged 65-87 years and mean age 70.84 ± 5.58 years were studied. Thirty percent of patients had normal ECG while 70% had abnormal ECG. Hypertension and diabetes mellitus were the two common intercurrent medical diseases in this study. The abnormal ECG findings were left ventricular hypertrophy 20%, sinus tachycardia 10%, sinus bradycardia 5%, left axis deviation 6.6%, right bundle branch block 6.6%, left bundle branch block 1.7%, AV block 1.7%, atrial fibrillation 3.3%, premature ventricular contraction 6.6% and left atrial enlargement 3.3% and ST elevation 5%. Conclusion: Majority of elderly presenting for preoperative assessment for urological procedures had abnormal ECG; left ventricular hypertrophy was the commonest. ECG is a readily available vital diagnostic tool for detecting patients at risk of intra and postoperative complications in a low resource centre.