‘Needless surgery not a N.Z. concern’

Press, 27 July 1988, Page 43

‘Needless surgery not a N.Z. concern’

PA Wellington An American review, which found nearly half of 386 coronary by-pass operations surveyed might not have been justified, should not cause concern in New Zealand, says the Heart Foundation. The foundation’s medical director, Dr David Hay, said American practitioners generally tended to be more aggressive and surgically inclined. The United States surgery rate for by-passes was about four times higher than New Zealand’s. Latest figures from the Cardiac Surgery Register showed New Zealand’s artery by-pass surgical rate was 250 per million in 1986.

Dr Hay said New Zealand was a little below standard rates, and this was a slight concern. “It hasn’t really gone up

as it should,” Dr Hay said. This was mainly because of lack of resources and facilities. The United States survey published in the “American Medical Association Journal” showed 14 per cent of 386 randomly selected bypasses were performed for inappropriate reasons. A panel of physicians rated operations on a scale based on different symptoms that indicated by-pass surgery was an option. The most common example of what was termed inappropriate surgery occurred in cases where surgery took place within 24 hours of hospital admission for unstable angina. Dr Hay said unstable angina was a well-debated area where there were different options available for treatment.