Time Sensitive Emergency General Surgery: Saving Lives and Reducing Cost

The advent and utilization of EGS specific service lines as part of the ACS model has brought the concept of time sensitive surgery to the forefront. Time sensitive emergency general surgery may be defined as surgical intervention that if delayed, leads to increased morbidity and mortality.

Data suggests that an established ACS model and/or EGS service line may allow for improvements in what could be considered time sensitive EGS conditions. Acute cholecystitis, choledocholithiasis, appendicitis, peptic ulcer disease, and necrotizing infections are identified as pathologies where time sensitive surgery improves these outcomes.

Further research should focus on the time point at which outcomes are improved in each of these diseases, but also should focus on the value ACS surgeons contribute to hospitals and healthcare by allowing urgent operations to occur in a timely fashion at any hour of the day.