[Identification and review of low-value clinical practices in General and Digestive Surgery]

There are currently widespread clinical practices that, because they do not have been supported by available scientific evidence, are inappropriate for most patients. The objective of the present study was to identify and review these low-value clinical practices in General Surgery.

A systematic review of the specialized databases and the published guidelines with identification of low-value practices in General Surgery was carried out. Of the low-value practices selected for a tertiary and university hospitals through the consensus of expert surgeons, those that do not provide clinical value were identified.

In a first search, 4,019 recommendations were found, of which 60 were selected because they were focused on General Surgery. After evaluation by the experts, a total of 29 clinical recommendations were selected to be implemented in a specialty service, which were divided into those corresponding to diagnostic processes (n=9), procedures and surgical technique (n=10) and of perioperative care and medication (n=10).

There is evidence in the literature of some clinical practices that provide little value in General Surgery. The changes referring to do-not-do these practices should be implemented in current clinical practice of this specialty.