ArticleThe Journal of hand surgery2019
The Impact of Pre-Referral Advanced Diagnostic Testing on Wait Time to See a Hand Surgeon for Common Upper-Extremity Conditions.
Article in The Journal of hand surgery, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Utilization of Diagnostic Testing for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: A Survey of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand.The Journal of hand surgery · 2022Article
- Surgical Timing for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: A Comparison of Health Care Delivery in the Veterans Administration and Private Sector.The Journal of hand surgery · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
purposeWe sought to evaluate the use of pre- and post-referral advanced diagnostic testing among patients with 3 common hand conditions, rates of subsequent tests, and differences in wait time to see a hand surgeon.
methodsWe analyzed a single academic tertiary care center administrative database of encounters from 2006 to 2015 to identify adult patients who were referred to a hand surgeon for 3 conditions (carpal tunnel syndrome [CTS], soft tissue masses [STM], and joint pain [JP]). We recorded patient characteristics, use and timing of diagnostic tests, and wait time for the initial hand surgeon evaluation.
resultsAmong patients who received advanced diagnostic tests before the surgeon evaluation, CTS patients had the highest rate of receiving pre-referral advanced testing (53.4%) compared with JP (10.6% ) and STM patients (5.8%). The CTS patients had the highest rates of repeat testing (19.5%) compared with patients with JP (1.4%) and STM (0%). Across all 3 conditions, patients who received pre-referral advanced testing waited an additional 19 to 94 days to see a surgeon, compared with patients who received only post-referral testing or no testing.
conclusionsUse of pre-referral advanced diagnostic tests is associated with an increased time to see a hand surgeon for common hand conditions. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Hand surgeons should have a role in identifying patients who do or do not benefit from advanced testing before referral to ensure that tests ordered before consultation are useful to both patients and treating surgeons.
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