Some ambulatory surgeries (i.e., surgeries that were started in the emergency department) may be over- or under-represented in the 2022 HCUP Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS) due to about 8,900 records missing from sampled emergency departments from the State Emergency Department Database (SEDD) in one Western state. The impact of omitting these records from the NEDS sample may cause some instability in trends and/or comparisons between conditions and procedures. In particular, analysts using the 2022 NEDS should be cautious about interpreting differences seen when examining emergency department visits related to appendicitis and other appendiceal conditions, especially in the West.

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