Characteristics and management of consultations requested from the emergency department and other outpatient clinics in a surgical oncology clinic

Aim: Interdepartmental collaboration is sought through consultations, which represent a common and important aspect of medical practice. Despite its importance, we have very little information due to the limited number of studies. In this study, we aimed to examine the differences between departments, as well as the characteristics and functioning of consultations requested from a surgical oncology clinic. Material and Methods: Two hundred eighty-seven consecutive consultations requested by the emergency department and other departments were included in the study. The patients were categorized according to the characteristics of the consultations. The relationship between categorical variables was analyzed with the chi-square (chi 2 test) test or Fisher's exact test. Results: Most consultations were requested during working hours (85%) and on weekdays (90%). Only 65% of the request forms contained sufficient information. The most common consultation request was from the emergency department (42%), the most common diagnosis was gastric cancer (24%), and the most common reasons for the request were surgical evaluation (30%) and bowel obstruction (29%). Only one interview was conducted with 56% of patients to end the consultation. Patients with a high Charlson comorbidity index were more likely to undergo major surgery (p = .004). Emergency department consultations were associated with early admission (p=0.00). Inadequate request forms were also associated with emergency department consultations (p=0.00). Discussion: It should be noted that the inadequacy of the consultation text, which can be considered a communication failure during the consultation process, is not uncommon.