Many questions continue to surround the perioperative management of patients undergoing ambulatory dermatologic surgery. The lack of studies specifically in the area of dermatologic surgery makes it difficult to manage situations linked to the surgical procedure, such as antiaggregation/anticoagulation, antibiotic prophylaxis, and additional preoperative tests. In the absence of specific guidelines based on sufficient scientific evidence, dermatologists extrapolate data and conclusions from similar procedures in other specialties. This is why studies such as the one by Nieto-Benito et al are essential in our specialty.1 In their study, the authors evaluate the impact of implementing a preoperative protocol that limits the performance of additional tests to patients with specific comorbidities. The data show a considerable reduction in health care costs with no corresponding increase in the number of surgical complications, in comparison to previous periods in which the protocol was not applied. These conclusions lead the authors to suggest that routine ordering of additional tests in dermatologic surgery is inappropriate.

Performing studies on the preoperative pertinence of additional tests is essential in dermatology. This would allow us to base the decisions we make in routine surgical practice on better scientific evidence.