Changes in the pattern of disease managed by general surgeons in New Zealand, 1940-80

Changes in the pattern of disease managed by general surgeons in New Zealand, were assessed for the period 1940-80, using the public hospital admission and cancer incidence data of a representative selection of diseases. During the forty-year period, there was an increase in the incidence of four of the five cancers studied, and an increase in admission rate for non-specific abdominal pain, head injury (indicated by skull fracture), peripheral arterial disease (indicated by aortic aneurysm), gall-stone disease and pancreatitis, large bowel disorders and breast diseases. There was a decline in admission rate for appendicitis, stomach disorders and goitre.