Acute Care Surgery

Acute care surgery, also known as emergency general surgery, is a continuously evolving specialty designed to address the increasing need for emergency surgical coverage in academic and community hospitals. In the quest for improved outcomes in this high-risk population, access to emergency surgical care is essential. Built upon the principles of trauma care, the multidisciplinary acute care surgical team is available 24-hours a day to provide prompt, evidence-based emergency care for time-sensitive surgical diseases.

Patients requiring emergency surgical assessment or treatment come to us from a various locations including those previously admitted to the hospital for other conditions or those seen in the emergency department. An increasing number come via interhospital transfer from any number of hospitals in Northeast Ohio and beyond. Many of our patients are critically ill and benefit from the continuity of care the acute care surgeon-led team provides.

The ACS service cares for approximately 2,000 patients annually. These patients are evenly split between primary admissions to the service, in-hospital consultations, and transfers from other facilities. On any given day, about 20 patients are admitted to ACS. The average length of stay for most patients is less than four days.

Scope of Practice

• Cholecystectomy
• Appendectomy
• Perforated hollow viscus
• Pancreatitis
• Ventral /Incisional hernia repair
• Umbilical hernia repair
• Acute GI hemorrhage
• Acute bowel ischemia
• Acute intestinal obstruction
• Inguinal hernias
• Necrotizing soft tissue infection/Necrotizing Fasciitis
• Soft tissue masses
• Abdominal wall reconstruction
• Skin grafting
• Tracheostomy
• Gastrostomy/Jejunostomy
• GI endoscopy
• Bronchoscopy