The acute abdomen: management with microcomputer aid.
- 1 July 1986
- journal article
- Vol. 68 (4) , 182-4
Abstract
This paper describes the management consequences of the use of a microcomputer as a special investigation in patients with an acute abdomen. Results in 812 patients seen by 42 junior doctors are compared six monthly and with baseline data from 295 cases from the preceding 2 years. Improvement in diagnostic ability from 48.5% to 71.8% (X2 = 25.8, P less than 0.001) resulted in a fall in negative appendicectomy from 37.5% to 9.71% (X2 = 16.2, P = less than 0.001). Bad management errors were also reduced from 22% to 10% (P = less than 0.01). The number of emergency investigation fell from 4 to 2 and inpatient stay of patients with non-surgical abdominal pain was reduced from 3 to 2 days. These results demonstrate that the use of microcomputers as investigative tools improves the surgical management of patients with acute abdominal pain.This publication has 4 references indexed in Scilit:
- Computer aided decision making in medicine.BMJ, 1984
- The diagnosis of acute abdominal pain with computer analysis.1976
- Simplified computer-aided diagnosis of acute abdominal pain.BMJ, 1975
- Human and Computer-aided Diagnosis of Abdominal Pain: Further Report with Emphasis on Performance of CliniciansBMJ, 1974