[Surgical consultation]

A consultation is a diagnostic aid aimed at obtaining an interdisciplinary consensus. Personal introspection and the necessity of consultation with physicians from other fields mark the individual limitations, which a doctor should regard. It is important to choose the right expert. The surgeon is usually called on the decide between surgical and conservative therapy. The value of consultative advice is beyond question, but qualitative and quantitative evaluation is impossible for lack of clinical studies. The results of "Second Opinion"-programs quantify differences in opinion between consulting surgeons.