The preoperative consultation. Response to internists' recommendations.

Preoperative consultations are frequently performed; however, little is known about the way requesters respond to the recommendations offered. For this reason, 90 consecutive preoperative consultations, performed by a general medical unit, were reviewed and compared with 66 consecutive nonpreoperative consultations, performed by the same unit during the same period. Analysis disclosed that recommendations made during preoperative consultation were often not followed and were less likely to be followed than were those made during nonpreoperative consultation (53.9% v 68.9%). Controlling for the type of consultative advice offered and for the type of surgical service requesting the consultation did not alter this relationship. These results highlight the particular importance of consultant follow-up for recommendations made during preoperative consultations.