ESORT: Evaluating the effectiveness of emergency surgery for patients with acute conditions

PROJECT STATUS: Completed
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START DATE AND DURATION: October 2019 - September 2023
Summary

Many patients are admitted to NHS hospitals in an emergency with common acute conditions. Some have emergency surgery within days and others have another approach to care, for example drug treatment or surgery later. We do not know if the benefits emergency surgery are greater than alternative approaches to care. The ESORT study assessed the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of emergency surgery in patients with appendicitis, gallstone disease, diverticular disease, abdominal hernia or intestinal obstruction. The study used routine NHS data. Innovative methods were used to overcome common problems with routine data, for example, the lack of detailed information on the severity of disease. 

This study evaluated the relative effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of emergency general surgery compared to non-operative strategies for patients with acute conditions. We are using data from Hospital Episode Statistics for patients who present as emergency admissions to NHS Trust hospitals in the UK.

This study is part of the NIHR ESORT (Emergency Surgery – Or noT) project, which aimed to determine the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of emergency surgery for patients with common acute conditions presenting as emergency hospital admissions. 

For more detail on the range of work done, click these links:

Key Findings

We found that people tended to have similar outcomes and costs, regardless of whether they had emergency surgery or another approach to care. However, for some subgroups, we did find important differences. For people who were very frail, other approaches to care led to greater benefits.

Partners & Collaborators

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)

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