Highlights
- •Many surgical pathologies display seasonal patterns relevant for surgeon workflow.
- •Emergent admissions demonstrate more prominent seasonality than elective ones.
- •The volume of inpatient surgical procedures decreases at the end of the calendar year.
- •Acute intra-abdominal conditions and traumas peak in summer months.
- •Peaks in elective cases may be related to insurance deductibles.
Abstract
Introduction
Seasonality has been studied in select conditions treated by surgeons and internists,
but is not well understood regarding overall procedural volume in general surgery.
Furthermore, much of the literature is limited due to lack of use of seasonal-trend–decomposition
analyses.
Methods
All admissions with general surgery procedures were pooled from NIS 2002-2014, monthly
hospitalization rates calculated, and seasonal-trend decomposition performed.
Results
Emergent admissions, accounting for 9% of the average annual incidence, had more prominent
seasonality than elective admissions. Inpatient surgical-procedural volume remained
relatively stable throughout the year and decreased only in the third quarter. Procedures
for acute intra-abdominal conditions and traumas peaked in summer months, while endoscopies,
tracheostomies and gastrostomies peaked in winter months.
Conclusions
Many surgical pathologies and corresponding general-surgery procedures obey circannual
patterns. Surgical workforce remains in high demand throughout the year except for
fall and winter holidays. Understanding seasonal variation in such demand may be important
for staffing and resource planning.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 20, 2023
Accepted:
February 18,
2023
Received in revised form:
January 19,
2023
Received:
October 2,
2022
Identification
Copyright
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