Urology registrar of the week: how does it improve patient care?

A systematic review of dedicated models of care for emergency urological patients

“…After removal of 210 duplicate results and 631 irrelevant studies, 16 articles were retrieved for full-text review ( Appendix 1 ). From these, seven eligible publications were selected, totaling 487 patients [ [23] , [24] , [25] , [26] , [27] , [28] , [29] , [30] ] ( Table 1 ). However, this sum represents an under-estimate, with three studies reporting samples of undefined size.…”

“… -ED reviews all surgical patients -SAU reviews all surgical patients – 4 – 101 NA – 2 † – – 6 2015 Tharakan [ 25 ] UK Admitted Retro. -Urology registrar on-site until 8 p.m. -Urology registrar on-site until 10 p.m. 1 1 – 77 – – – – ‡ 6 2016 Raza [ 26 ] UK Surgery Retro. -Registrar has all-day elective duties -Registrar is rostered all-day solely to EUPs 1 1 50 73 – Δ 7 to 3 Same § – || 14 2017 Golda [ 27 ] Canada ED Retro.…”

“…Two included studies were non-comparative case series of patients following introduction of dedicated emergency urological services [ 24 , 28 ], while the remaining five were comparative cohort studies, describing patient groups before and after such changes [ [25] , [26] , [27] , 29 , 30 ]. Four studies were prospective [ 24 , [28] , [29] , [30] ], and three retrospective [ [25] , [26] , [27] ]. There was a substantial disparity in the studies’ chosen enrolment moment within the patient journey.…”

“…There was a substantial disparity in the studies’ chosen enrolment moment within the patient journey. Two studies each assessed EUPs who had either presented to the emergency department [ 24 , 27 ], been admitted [ 25 , 30 ] or proceeded to the theatre [ 26 , 28 ], while one study assessed those with symptomatic renal calculi requiring surgery [ 29 ]. Similarly, patient enrolment period varied from 2 to 24 months [ [24] , [25] , [26] , 28 , 30 ], with two studies not reporting duration [ 27 , 29 ].…”

“…Raza et al. [ 26 ] described amending rosters to provide an full day urology registrar for emergency patients, while two other studies introduced protected emergency urology operating theatre access of either two half-day lists per week or unspecified quantity [ 28 , 29 ]. The commencement of a Surgical Assessment Unit was documented by Nican et al.…”