Assessing the Consultation Pattern from Emergency Room Physicians to General Surgery Subspecialties: Identifying the...

Area of Science:

• Emergency Medicine
• Surgical Patient Management
• Healthcare Systems Analysis

Background:

• The Acute Care Surgery (ACS) model utilizes a 24/7 multidisciplinary team for emergency surgical patient management.
• This model aims to optimize care through coordinated efforts of surgeons, nurses, and residents, supported by electronic consultation systems.
• Understanding patient demographics and common conditions is crucial for resource allocation and service improvement within ACS.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize demographic and clinical profiles of patients admitted to general surgery from the emergency department (ED).
• To identify the most frequent presenting complaints and surgical procedures in this patient cohort.
• To determine the utilization patterns of general surgery subspecialties for consultations originating from the ED.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective study was conducted at King Abdulaziz Medical City (KAMC), Riyadh, from September 2022 to November 2023.
• Data were collected from 384 patients admitted under general surgery from the ED, extracted from the BestCare electronic medical record.
• Analysis included patient demographics, presenting complaints, operative procedures, and subspecialty consultation patterns.

Main Results:

• The majority of patients were male (53.1%), with the largest age group being 30-45 years (29.2%).
• Abdominal pain was the leading complaint (63.3%), followed by fever with nausea/vomiting (17.7%).
• Laparoscopic cholecystectomy (32.0%) and appendectomy (14.8%) were the most common procedures, with ACS receiving the most consultations (61.8%).

Conclusions:

• Abdominal pain is the primary driver for general surgery referrals from the ED.
• Laparoscopic cholecystectomy and appendectomy are the most frequently performed emergency surgical procedures.
• The ACS model plays a central role in managing emergency surgical patients at KAMC, as evidenced by the high consultation volume.