5th May 2025

The surgical F1 calls you.

The surgical F1 calls you. He is seeing a 65-year-old lady in pre-assessment – she is due to have a cholecystectomy. She has been complaining of palpitations for the last 2 days, but this has not affected her exercise tolerance. The F1 has done an ECG which shows AF at 145 bpm.  BP is 133/65. She is known to be mildly hypertensive and is on bendroflumethiazide but has no other medical problems and has never had an ECG before. The surgical team is keen to cardiovert her. How best should this lady be managed?

Select the SINGLE most appropriate option from the list below. Select ONE option only.