More than one in 100 otherwise healthy patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery will die within 30 days post-operatively, and of these patients 45% will die from vascular causes such as myocardial infarction. The pathogenesis of perioperative myocardial infarction is complex and to date not fully elucidated. The physiological stress response associated with the surgical procedure is believed to be central in the development of perioperative cardiovascular complications. Surgery initiates systemic inflammation, hypercoagulability and increases the production of catecholamines and cortisol. These drastic systemic changes lead to a state of myocardial oxygen supply-demand mismatch, which added to acute endothelial dysfunction and ruptures of vulnerable plaques, may result in myocardial injury.