Researchers investigated if referrals to non-surgical providers, following the initial presentation of symptomatic cholelithiasis, lead to delays in surgical management. Their study included 482 patients who had cholecystectomies from 2015 to 2019. Among these patients, 61.2% received direct surgical referrals, while 38.8% were referred to non-surgical providers. The latter group experienced significantly longer delays from initial symptom presentation to surgical evaluation (65.7 days vs. 10.3 days) and cholecystectomy (102.0 days vs. 39.1 days). These delays impact patient symptoms and healthcare resource use.
Journal Article by Cook LB, Gunasingha MRMKD (…) Gosztyla LC et 3 al. in Am J Surg
Published by Elsevier Inc.