2011 Volume 31 Issue 5 Pages 733-737
In these times of compartmentalization of medical treatment, emergency abdominal patients are concentrated in major hospitals, including those affiliated with universities. We investigated the current state of the treatment of emergency abdominal complaints in a department of surgery in a university hospital in central Tokyo. Materials and Methods : We evaluated emergency surgery performed in our department from 2006 to 2009. Results : Over four years, 546 cases of emergency abdominal surgery were performed. Of these cases, 90% were benign conditions, with acute appendicitis accounting for approximately half. The number of emergency abdominal operations gradually tended to increase in any single year. The operations generally commenced sometime between 16:00 and 22:00. Eighty per cent of them were performed by a doctor with fewer than 10 years of surgical experience. Discussion : Most of the emergency abdominal operations were mainly performed following elective surgery. Although they resulted in a shortage of staff, these mergency abdominal operations were important in the education of young surgeons. Conclusion : Emergency abdominal surgery should be positively regarded from the perspective of community health care and medical education.
