Physician recommendations of elective surgery for duodenal ulcer patients: a comparision of surgeons and medical specialists.

A questionnarie eliciting physician recommendations of elective surgery versus medical management for hypothetical duodenal ulcer patients with bleeding 2 wk earlier was completed by gastroenterolgists and gastrointestinal surgeons. Surgeons consistenly recommended surgery more often than did gastroenterologists. However, the two groups made similar qualitative use of the factors amount of bleeding, age of patient, and duration of ulcer disease in their decision rules.