Minor surgery at primary care centers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

This study was conducted to review the present situation with regard to training, facilities and performance of minor surgical procedures in primary care, and to look at the way doctors perceive various minor surgical procedures in primary care. Randomly selected primary care doctors working in Riyadh health centers completed a predesigned confidential questionnaire, which was then mailed to the researchers. The questionnaire of data on health centers, such as geographic location, size of catchment area population and number and gender of doctors working there. In addition, demographic data of doctors who completed the questionnaire, as well as their exposure to minor surgery training and performance, were recorded. The doctors were then asked about their perception of the necessity of performing various minor surgical procedures in primary care centers. The study was conducted from June through December of 1994. The completed questionnaires were entered into a personal computer for statistical analysis using the chi-squared test. Of the 231 doctors who participated in the present study, 74% performed some sort of minor surgery during their day-to-day work in the health center. Doctors living in remote areas performed more minor surgery (MS) compared to other areas and male doctors performed more MS than female doctors (P = 0.05). As doctors gained confidence in certain skills such as resuscitation, venous cut-down and handling of trauma and fractures, they performed more MS compared to those who were not confident. A room allocated for MS only was available to 27.7% of doctors, but instruments and equipment were available for over 76% of doctors. The doctor's perception of the necessity for MS was statisticaly higher among MS performers only in cases of removal of benign skin lesions, sebaceous cysts and treatment of burns, compared with non-MS performers. There is a great need for provision of facilities and organized training courses in minor surgical procedures for primary care doctors and nurses.