Cardiac clearance is a medical assessment or workup that a surgeon and anesthesia provider (anesthesiologist or certified registered nurse anesthetist, or CRNA) should consider before an elective, non-cardiac surgery.
The idea behind cardiac clearance is to assess a patient’s risk of a cardiovascular event occurring during the surgery and what interventions and plans can be made to manage them. If a serious heart condition is uncovered, the elective surgery will be delayed or canceled so the life-threatening cardiac issues can be addressed.