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Routine Preoperative Investigation: Results of a Multicenter Survey in Italy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2009

Gualtiero Ricciardi
Affiliation:
University of Cassino
Italo F. Angelillo
Affiliation:
University of Reggio Calabria
Umberto Del Prete
Affiliation:
Second University of Naples
Marcello M. D'Errico
Affiliation:
University of Ancona
Guido M. Grasso
Affiliation:
University of Molise
Pasquale Gregorio
Affiliation:
University of Ferrara
Francesco S. Schioppa
Affiliation:
University “D'Annunzio” Chieti
Maria Triassi
Affiliation:
University of Naples “Federico II”
Antonio Boccia
Affiliation:
University of Rome “La Sapienza”

Abstract

We conducted a study to acquire information on the current behavior of a sample of Italian surgeons and anesthesiologists about prescribing, interpreting, and using routine preoperative investigations. Consultants in surgery and anesthesiology in 60 hospitals in northern, central, and southern Italy were interviewed. Prescription of these procedures by doctors were driven more by personal experience than by updated scientific knowledge. This practice often led to ineffective and inefficient clinical practice, with healthy patients undergoing useless, time-consuming, costly, and sometimes harmful procedures.

Type
General Essays
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1998

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