biostudies-literatureUnknown50(1)Quaile OUniversity of Bern<h4>Objective</h4>Running an emergency general surgery (EGS) service is challenging and requires significant personnel and institutional resources. The aim of this study was to achieve a nationwide overview of the individual EGS service organizations in public hospitals in Switzerland.<h4>Methods</h4>All Swiss public hospitals with a surgical and emergency department were included and contacted by telephone. General surgeons were interviewed between December 2021 and January 2022 using a standardized questionnaire.<h4>Results</h4>Seventy-two out of 79 public hospitals in Switzerland (91.1%) agreed to the survey. They employed 1,581 surgeons in 19 (26.4%) hospitals with < 100 beds, 39 (54.2%) hospitals with 100-300 beds, 7 (9.7%) with 300-600 beds, and 7 (9.7%) with > 600 beds. The median number of surgeons per hospital was 20.5 (IQR 13.0-29.0). Higher level of care (intermediate or intensive care unit) was significantly less available in small hospitals (< 100 beds). The median hour of designated emergency operating room capacity per day was 14 h (IQR 14-24) for all hospitals with < 600 beds and 24 h (IQR 14-24) for the largest hospitals (> 600 beds). With increasing hospital size, there was a significant increase in the number of surgical units where EGS and orthopedic trauma surgery were covered by two separate teams (21.1% vs. 43.6% vs. 85.7% vs. 100%, p = 0.035). The median number of surgeons on-call per hospital and per 24 h was 5.0 (IQR 3.3-6.0).<h4>Conclusion</h4>Lack of higher level of care in small hospitals, limited emergency OR capacity and short rotations of on-call teams are major drawbacks of many current EGS systems in Switzerland. Centralization of critically ill EGS patients and reorganization of surgical on-call systems to designated acute care surgery teams should be considered.European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society259-268https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC10923733biostudies-literatureCharacteristics of emergency general surgery services in Switzerland: a nationwide survey.PMC10923733Trippel A“SwissACS”Perrodin SFQuaile OSchnuriger BfalseCharacteristics of emergency general surgery services in Switzerland: a nationwide survey.<h4>Objective</h4>Running an emergency general surgery (EGS) service is challenging and requires significant personnel and institutional resources. The aim of this study was to achieve a nationwide overview of the individual EGS service organizations in public hospitals in Switzerland.<h4>Methods</h4>All Swiss public hospitals with a surgical and emergency department were included and contacted by telephone. General surgeons were interviewed between December 2021 and January 2022 using a standardized questionnaire.<h4>Results</h4>Seventy-two out of 79 public hospitals in Switzerland (91.1%) agreed to the survey. They employed 1,581 surgeons in 19 (26.4%) hospitals with < 100 beds, 39 (54.2%) hospitals with 100-300 beds, 7 (9.7%) with 300-600 beds, and 7 (9.7%) with > 600 beds. The median number of surgeons per hospital was 20.5 (IQR 13.0-29.0). Higher level of care (intermediate or intensive care unit) was significantly less available in small hospitals (< 100 beds). The median hour of designated emergency operating room capacity per day was 14 h (IQR 14-24) for all hospitals with < 600 beds and 24 h (IQR 14-24) for the largest hospitals (> 600 beds). With increasing hospital size, there was a significant increase in the number of surgical units where EGS and orthopedic trauma surgery were covered by two separate teams (21.1% vs. 43.6% vs. 85.7% vs. 100%, p = 0.035). The median number of surgeons on-call per hospital and per 24 h was 5.0 (IQR 3.3-6.0).<h4>Conclusion</h4>Lack of higher level of care in small hospitals, limited emergency OR capacity and short rotations of on-call teams are major drawbacks of many current EGS systems in Switzerland. Centralization of critically ill EGS patients and reorganization of surgical on-call systems to designated acute care surgery teams should be considered.2024-01-01T00:00:00Z2024 Feb2026-06-24T03:08:40.903Z2026-06-24T03:04:34.418ZS-EPMC109237333747079010.1007/s00068-023-02272-2