Caveats
Despite these concerns, SSRIs offer a number of significant potential benefits in the preoperative field. They may be effective treatments for depression which may be a contributing factor to recovery from surgery. Cessation may worsen emotional state and increase confusion perioperatively. There may also be a role for these drugs in the treatment of delirium, itself a significant contributor to postoperative morbidity although as yet the evidence is scanty. The standard indications for these medications are relatively robust, hence a 'one-size-fits-all' approach is unhelpful.