Emergency operation indications in emergency medicine clinic (model of emergency medicine in Turkey)

Although patients who present for emergency medical care have a broad spectrum of symptoms, such events can generally be categorized as internal medicine, surgical, and pediatric emergency cases. Indications for emergency surgery are estimated to be infrequent compared with the overall number of patients admitted for emergency care. This study investigated the indications for emergency surgery in patients (612 of 8422 patients who sought emergency care) admitted to the surgical division of the emergency department at Konya City Hospital between January and July of 2002. This retrospective study, which investigated reasons for surgical procedures and relevant branch distribution, comprised 405 men (65%) and 207 women (35%). Ages of enrolled patients ranged from 6 months to 70 years. Most of the patients (n=280, 46%) who underwent surgery at the emergency clinic were treated for acute abdomen. Emergency indications for neurosurgery (n=71, 12%) were the second most common reason for emergency procedures. Epidural hematoma and depressed fracture were the most apparent indications for neurosurgery. Surgery of the thorax was the third most common emergency surgery performed (n=44, 7%). Patients who had emergency surgery indications and who underwent surgery account for approximately 7% of the total number of patients who presented for emergency care. Acute abdomen and trauma were the most frequently reported precipitating events. This study was presented orally at the 4th International Trauma and Emergency Surgery Congress, held in 2002 in Istanbul, Turkey.