Lee KC, et al. - Researchers compared Medicare beneficiaries who undergo emergency general surgery (EGS) vs patients admitted with acute medical conditions in terms of their 1-year outcomes. They conducted a population-based, retrospective cohort study of 481,417 matched pairs of older Medicare beneficiaries using Medicare claims data from January 1, 2008, to December 31, 2014. The participants were adults 65 years or older with at least 1 year of Medicare claims who had urgent or emergency admissions for 1 of the 5 highest-burden EGS procedures (partial colectomy, small-bowel resection, peptic ulcer disease surgery, lysis of adhesions, or laparotomy) or a primary diagnosis of an acute medical condition (pneumonia, heart failure, or acute myocardial infarction). Outcomes revealed similar odds of 1-year mortality, nearly 30% lower rates of hospital use during 1 year, and similar number of days at home in correlation with emergency general surgery vs acute medical admission. However, both groups exhibited 1-year mortality of 29.7% or higher; more than 56% had a hospital encounter in the year after discharge and at least 56 days away from home. As older patients undergoing EGS and acutely ill medical patients have similarly high 1-year rates of mortality, hospital use, and days away from home, they suggest targeting EGS, in addition, for national quality improvement programs.