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The American Heart Association recommends delaying elective surgery for at least 6 months after ischemic stroke to lower risk for perioperative recurrence (Circulation 2021; 143:e923), but the duration of excess risk is unknown. To clarify this, researchers analyzed data from 5.8 million noncardiac, nonneurological elective surgeries performed on U.S. Medicare beneficiaries (mean age, 75) from 2011 to 2018. Billing codes were used to identify patients with hospitalizations for ischemic stroke within 2 years before surgery.
The most common elective surgeries were orthopedic. About 1% of patients had prior strokes: Half occurred 1 to 2 years before surgery, one quarter occurred 6 to 12 months before surgery, and 3% occurred within 30 days befo…