Is surgery the best option? Research provides alternatives (NIHR, 21 November 2024)

Summary

Reducing surgical waiting lists is a huge challenge for the NHS. One strategy to free up operating theatres, staff time, and other surgical resources is to consider whether surgery is the best option for patients. This Collection from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) draws on the latest research to highlight five examples where less invasive approaches can give patients similar or better outcomes and save resources.

Content

NHS policymakers, commissioners, managers and clinicians could consider that:

• a watch and wait approach reduces the need for surgery among people with uncomplicated symptomatic gallstones
• one-stage is as good as 2-stage surgery to replace infected artificial hips
• opting for active monitoring of low or intermediate-risk localised prostate cancer has the same high survival rates as surgery or radiotherapy after 15 years, and avoids the side effects of radical treatment for many men
• non-surgical approaches give better outcomes than emergency surgery for people with severe frailty admitted to hospital with severe gut problems
• a plaster cast is as good as surgery for a broken scaphoid bone in the wrist