Emergency Surgery

Emergency Surgery, also known as Emergency General Surgery, is the earliest interdisciplinary discipline established in China at the intersection of general surgery and emergency medicine. The department is located in the First Inpatient Department and has 41 official beds and 10 additional emergency beds. There are 11 physicians of various ranks, including 2 chief physicians and 4 associate chief physicians; all hold doctoral or master’s degrees, and 3 are supervisors of master’s students. There are 23 nurses, including 4 nurse supervisors and 1 ET specialist. Each year, the department trains 3-6 postgraduate students specializing in emergency medicine or general surgery, and also undertakes teaching in General Surgery and acute abdomen for undergraduate students, international students, and postgraduate students. The department is also an institution serving as deputy chair of the Intestinal Fistula Surgeons Committee of the Surgical Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association; the institution leading or serving as deputy leader of the Hernia and Abdominal Wall Study Groups of the surgical branches of medical associations at the provincial and municipal levels; and a member institution of the Expert Committee of the Qingdao General Surgery Quality Control Center. It also participates in training at the Chinese Ostomy Nurse Supervisor Training Base organized by the Beijing Medical and Health Public Welfare Foundation. The department has appointed Ren Jian'an, director of the Institute of General Surgery of the People’s Liberation Army at the General Hospital of the Nanjing Military Region, as honorary department director, with a focus on developing distinctive expertise in acute, critical, severe, and difficult general surgical diseases.

I. Professional specialties

1. Intestinal obstruction in acute abdomen: The department’s diagnosis and treatment of intestinal obstruction have reached a leading level in China. By integrating clinical findings with imaging features, it performs acute classification, characterization, and localization of intestinal obstruction, making diagnosis and treatment more precise, standardized, and individualized, with the goals of reducing patients’ suffering, shortening the treatment course, and reducing medical costs. A variety of minimally invasive techniques, including laparoscopy and stent intervention, are performed, enriching the diagnostic and therapeutic options for intestinal obstruction. The department has offered the continuing medical education program Advances in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Acute Abdomen/Intestinal Obstruction year-round, with broad influence throughout China. It has also established an Intestinal Obstruction Collaboration Group in Shandong Province to conduct multicenter clinical research.

2. Appendicitis in acute abdomen: Laparoscopic appendectomy has become the department’s standard surgical approach. Its minimally invasive and aesthetically favorable nature enables patients to return to daily life and work sooner. Some patients are elderly, have multiple comorbidities, are pregnant, or are complex cases transferred from other hospitals. Through multidisciplinary collaboration, the department maintains a low rate of surgical complications and has reached a leading level in China.

3. Mesenteric ischemia in acute abdomen: Acute mesenteric ischemia is a life-threatening condition with high mortality and disability rates. Through multiple diagnostic and therapeutic measures and a multidisciplinary collaborative model, the department achieves timely and accurate diagnosis and prompt intervention, minimizing risk to the greatest extent possible. It also provides multiple nutritional approaches to intestinal rehabilitation for related complications such as short bowel syndrome.

4. Other acute abdominal emergencies: Acute abdominal emergencies encompass numerous diseases and are complex and changeable. The department has extensive experience in the diagnosis and treatment of various gastrointestinal perforations, severe intra-abdominal infections caused by biliary tract diseases, severe acute pancreatitis, and incarcerated abdominal wall hernias.

5. Treatment of intra-abdominal complications after gastrointestinal surgery: Intra-abdominal complications after gastrointestinal surgery include bleeding, intestinal obstruction, intestinal fistula, and intra-abdominal infection. As an institution serving as deputy chair of the national Intestinal Fistula Surgeons Committee, the department enjoys an outstanding reputation in the treatment of complex intra-abdominal infections and treats dozens of related cases transferred from other hospitals each year.

6. Abdominal trauma: Severe abdominal visceral trauma is often accompanied by severe intra-abdominal infection and/or intra-abdominal hypertension. The department flexibly applies damage-control techniques, including open-abdomen management and temporary closure, together with various supportive measures, thereby reducing mortality to the greatest extent possible.

7. Gastrointestinal tumors: A considerable number of acute abdominal emergencies are caused by gastrointestinal tumors. Upholding the fine traditions of general surgery, the department’s academic leader has performed a large number of non-emergency operations for gastric, colon, and rectal cancer to manage the complex circumstances when tumors coexist with acute abdominal emergencies, relieving the acute condition while ensuring complete tumor resection. Throughout diagnosis and treatment, the department follows international or national guidelines and diagnostic and treatment standards and, in accordance with the hospital’s uniform standards, strives to ensure the safety, completeness, and functional outcomes of surgery.

8. Hernia and abdominal wall surgery: Incarcerated abdominal wall hernias are common acute abdominal emergencies, and prevention is key. As a leading institution for hernia and abdominal wall surgery in Shandong Province and Qingdao, the department’s leading strengths include various tension-free repair procedures for common inguinal hernias, as well as open, laparoscopic, and hybrid repairs for complex abdominal wall incisional hernias and parastomal hernias.

9. Thyroid surgery: As an interdisciplinary area of general surgery, the department has long received patients with benign and malignant thyroid and parathyroid diseases who seek care because of its reputation. Operations comply with guidelines or diagnostic and treatment standards. The department has a particularly strong reputation for resection of giant nodular goiters and substernal goiters.

10. Anorectal surgery: While tumor surgery is the primary focus of large medical centers, some relatively minor benign diseases may be overlooked. As a supplement to general surgery, the department provides effective surgical treatment for severe hemorrhoidal disease and anal fistula.

11. Minimally invasive surgery: Minimally invasive surgery is not a specialty but a concept and a set of techniques. The department performs a series of minimally invasive procedures represented by laparoscopic surgery, including the diagnosis and surgery of various acute abdominal emergencies, as well as laparoscopic-assisted or totally laparoscopic surgery for gastric cancer and colorectal cancer. Other minimally invasive methods include CT/ultrasound-guided percutaneous drainage and catheter/stent intervention.

12. Ostomy and wound management: Because stomas are created during surgery for some acute abdominal emergencies such as intestinal obstruction, intestinal necrosis, and intestinal perforation, and because some rectal cancer operations require a permanent or protective stoma, the proportion of patients with stomas in the department is relatively high in China. The department has developed a professional team of ostomy specialists and has extensive practical experience in stoma site selection and design, care, prevention and treatment of complications, follow-up of ostomates, and organization of ostomy support meetings. It also has extensive experience in managing acute and chronic wounds, including pressure ulcers, traumatic wounds, arterial and venous ulcers of the lower limbs, diabetic foot, and surgical incision infections.

II. Patient guide

Ward: 6th floor, First Inpatient Department; telephone: 82911343

Outpatient department: 6th floor; telephone: 82911206