Seven procedures account for approximately 80% of all admissions, deaths, complications and inpatient costs attributable to emergency general surgery nationwide, according to a study published online by JAMA Surgery (2016 Apr 27:e160480. doi: 10.1001/jamasurg.2016.0480).
The finding is viewed as a “starting point” for developing national benchmarks for this tremendously expensive area of health care, the investigators indicated.
In an accompanying editorial, Martin G. Paul, MD,