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John A. Paraskos, MD

Arch Intern Med. 1992;152(2):261-263.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

Can the importance of a test be judged by the volume of tests ordered? Fisch¹ estimated in 1989 that approximately 100 million electrocardiograms (ECGs) are recorded annually at an approximate cost of $5 billion. That many of the 100 million ECGs were unnecessary cannot be questioned. It is useful, therefore, that we constantly review the need for all routine testing with a view to balancing cost against patient benefit. Also in 1989, it was estimated that 10 million outpatient surgical procedures were performed.² Preoperative ECGs were likely to have been obtained for most of the surgical patients over the age of 40 years, as has been recommended by Goldberger and O'Konski.³ In this issue, Gold et as⁴ question the need for routine preoperative ECGs for ambulatory surgery in patients under the age of 60 years. The authors base their conclusion on the results of a retrospective . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
Department of Medicine University of Massachusetts Medical Center 55 Lake Ave N Worcester, MA 01655

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