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PubMed2003

Double gloving and practice attitudes among surgeons.

BACKGROUND: Exposure to blood and body fluids while operating places surgeons at risk. Double gloving is a safety measure, which decreases this risk. However, many surgeons do not incorporate this precaution into their personal practice. This study evaluates surgeons' gloving practices and hepatitis status. METHODS: A questionnaire was sent to all consultant surgeons and residents in the surgical specialties in the Capital Health region, University of Alberta. A double mail-out design was used. A second questionnaire, containing information on safety issues, was sent to the general surgeons (consultants and residents) who did not double glove to ascertain whether this information would change their practice. RESULTS: In all, 268 surgeons and residents were sent the original questionnaire; 170 replied (63.4% response rate.) Fifty-seven percent of the respondents do not double glove (none of the urologists double glove versus 87% of orthopedic surgeons). The most common reason sited was a decrease in manual dexterity (46%). Ninety-seven percent of respondents are immunized for hepatitis B with 53% having had their titres recently checked. Thirty-seven general surgeons received the evidence on safety issues but only 9 (23%) of them would change their practice as a result of this information. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of surgeons and residents do not double glove. Even when provided with good evidence of efficacy, few surgeons contemplate adopting safety techniques.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1995

The learning curve for laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The Southern Surgeons Club.

BACKGROUND: The use of laparoscopic surgical procedures without previous training has grown rapidly. At the same time, there have been allegations of increased complications among less experienced surgeons. METHODS: Using multivariate regression analyses, we evaluated the relationship between bile duct injury rate and experience with laparoscopic cholecystectomy for surgeons in the Southern Surgeons Club. RESULTS: Fifty-five surgeons performed 8,839 procedures. Fifteen bile duct injuries (by 13 surgeons) resulted with 90% of the injuries occurring within the first 30 cases performed by an individual surgeon. Multivariate analyses indicated that the only significant factor associated with an adverse outcome was the surgeon's experience with the procedure. A regression model predicted that a surgeon had a 1.7% chance of a bile duct injury occurring in the first case and a 0.17% chance of a bile duct injury at the 50th case. CONCLUSIONS: While surgeons appear to learn this procedure rapidly, institutions might consider requiring surgeons to move beyond the initial learning curve before awarding privileges.

Bile Ducts↗
PubMed2003

Beliefs and attitudes of members of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons regarding the treatment of anterior cruciate ligament injury.

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to quantify the amount of agreement among orthopaedic surgeons regarding the natural history of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)-deficient knee, surgery, and rehabilitation, and the treatment of these patients. TYPE OF STUDY: Physician mail survey. METHODS: Orthopaedic surgeons were randomly selected from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) directory. Only individuals who treated or referred ACL-insufficient patients for treatment within the past year were asked to complete the 3-page survey. The survey included 25 questions regarding clinical opinion. Clinical agreement was present when 80% or more of the surgeons agreed on the same response option. RESULTS: The total number of surgeons who responded to the survey was 397 (response rate, 54.8%) and the number who had treated or referred ACL-insufficient patients in the past year was 261. Among surgeons who completed the questionnaire, the response rates to the individual questions ranged from 92% to 100%. The mean response rate for all questions was 97.4%. The mean age of the surgeons was 48.4 years, and 35.8% considered their practice to be a subspecialty in sports medicine or knee surgery. For 12 questions (48%), there was clinical disagreement among the surgeons. Surgical volume was associated with clinical opinion for 16 of 25 questions (P < or =.05). CONCLUSIONS: Significant variation is seen in clinical opinion and decision-making regarding ACL injuries among members of the AAOS, particularly regarding whether ACL-deficient patients can participate in all recreational sports activities, that ACL reconstruction reduces the rate of arthrosis, and on the use of braces in the postoperative period. Additionally, surgeons disagreed on the effect of 4 patient characteristics (age over 40, presence of pain, irreparable meniscal tear, injury involving Workers' Compensation) on the decision to perform surgery. Areas of significant clinical uncertainty should be the focus of future research and medical education for orthopaedic surgeons who treat ACL injuries.

Academies and Institutes↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Algorithm for determining equivalent A-constants and surgeon factors.

PURPOSE: To describe statistical algorithms for determining surgeon factors and corresponding A-constants and compare them to empirical data. METHODS: The Holladay and SRK/T equations are rearranged to develop a series of equations expressing the surgeon factor as a function of the A-constant or, alternatively, the A-constant as a function of the surgeon factor. These expressions are statistically manipulated using keratometric and axial length distributions to determined clinically equivalent A-constant-surgeon factor pairs. Predictions made by this algorithm are fit to a linear equation that accurately relates surgeon factors to equivalent A-constants and are compared to a set of corresponding A-constants and surgeons factors used by the Food and Drug Administration for labeling purposes. Algorithm performance is assessed by calculating the difference between the Holladay and SRK/T intraocular lens power equations, establishing equivalence criteria. These calculations are performed using clinically equivalent A-constant-surgeon factor pairs with an axial length and average corneal curvature corresponding to the population mean. RESULTS: The difference calculation is less than or equal to 0.02 diopter (D) for A-constants ranging between 110.0 and 120.0. A comparison of the algorithm with empirically derived corresponding A-constant-surgeon factor pairs shows that the two methods are identical for A-constants ranging between 117.0 and 119.0; however, differences in equivalent surgeon factors predicted by these methods increase with decreasing A-constants. The magnitude of this difference is 0.44 mm at an A-constant of 110.0, resulting in a difference of 0.45 D in equivalence criteria. CONCLUSIONS: These data demonstrate that the statistical algorithm provides an improvement in A-constant-surgeon factor equivalent for A-constants less than 117.0. The structure of this algorithm can easily be adapted to interrelate other pairs of personal constants and serves as a theoretical method to standardize personal constants.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2003

Psychomotor skills assessment in practicing surgeons experienced in performing advanced laparoscopic procedures.

BACKGROUND: Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) has introduced a new and unique set of psychomotor skills for a surgeon to acquire and master. Although assessment technologies have been proposed, precise and objective psychomotor skills assessment of surgeons performing laparoscopic procedures has not been detailed. STUDY DESIGN: Two hundred ten surgeons attending the 2001 annual meeting of the American College of Surgeons in New Orleans who reported having completed more than 50 laparoscopic procedures participated. Subjects were required to complete one box-trainer laparoscopic cutting task and a similar virtual reality task. These tasks were specifically designed to test only psychomotor and not cognitive skills. Both tasks were completed twice. Performance of tasks was assessed and analyzed. Demographic and laparoscopic experience data were also collected. RESULTS: Complete data were available on 195 surgeons. In this group, surgeons performed the box-trainer task better with their dominant hand (p < 0.0001) and there was a strong and statistically significant correlation between trials (r = 0.47 - 0.64, p < 0.0001). After transforming raw data to z-scores (mean = 0 and SD = 1) it was shown that between 2% and 12% of surgeons performed more than two standard deviations from the mean. Some surgeons' performance was 20 standard deviations from the mean. Minimally Invasive Surgical Trainer Virtual Reality metrics demonstrated high measurement consistency as assessed by coefficient alpha (alpha = 0.849). CONCLUSIONS: Objective assessment of laparoscopic psychomotor skills is now possible. Surgeons who had performed more than 50 laparoscopic procedures showed considerable variability in their performance on a simple laparoscopic and virtual reality task. Approximately 10% of surgeons tested performed the task significantly worse than the group's average performance. Studies such as this may form the methodology for establishing criteria levels and performance objectives in objective assessment of the technical skills component of determining surgical competence.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Surgeon workload and survival from breast cancer.

The formation of multidisciplinary breast teams across the UK is intended to concentrate the assessment and treatment of breast cancer into the hands of high volume specialists. We undertook a retrospective population-based study in order to determine the trends in surgeon breast cancer workload in Yorkshire, UK, and to investigate whether patients treated by low-workload surgeons had poorer survival. Of 11 329 female breast cancer patients diagnosed in 1989-1994 in Yorkshire, 6% were managed by surgeons with a mean annual workload of less than 10 new patients, while surgeons with workloads of 10-29, 30-49 and >50 treated 21, 21 and 52%, respectively. Over the study period, increasing number of patients were managed by surgeons with higher workloads. Patients treated by low-workload surgeons had poorer survival. Five-year survival was 60% in the lowest workload category compared to 68% in the highest category. The relative risk of death was increased by 15% (RR=1.15, 95% CI 1.03-1.28) and by 10% (RR=1.10, 95% CI 1.02-1.18) for patients managed by surgeons with workloads <10 and 10-29 cases per annum in comparison to patients managed by surgeons with workloads of >50. The results of this study suggest increasing site specialisation in breast cancer among general surgeons. It also provides further evidence that the management of patients by surgeons with low workloads decreases overall survival.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Evaluating surgeons' informed decision making skills: pilot test using a videoconferenced standardised patient.

BACKGROUND: Standardised patients (SPs) are effective in evaluating communication skills, but not every training site may have the resources to develop and maintain SP programmes. OBJECTIVES: To test whether videoconferencing technology (VT) could enable an interaction between an SP and an orthopaedic surgeon that would allow the SP to accurately evaluate the surgeon's informed decision making (IDM) skills. We also assessed whether this sort of interaction was acceptable to orthopaedic surgeons as a means of learning IDM skills. METHODS: We trained an SP to represent a 75-year-old woman considering hip replacement surgery. Orthopaedic surgeons in Chicago individually consulted with the SP in Philadelphia; each participant could see and hear the other on large television screens. The SP evaluated the surgeons' advice using a 23-item checklist of IDM elements, and gave each surgeon verbal and written feedback on his IDM skills. The surgeons then gave their evaluations of the exercise. RESULTS: Twenty-two surgeons completed the project. The SP was > or = 80% accurate in classifying 20 of the 23 IDM skills when compared to a clinician rater. Although 12 (55%) of the orthopaedic surgeons felt that some aspects of the technology were distracting, most were pleased with it, and 19 of 22 (86%) would recommend the videoconferenced SP interaction to their colleagues as a means of learning IDM skills. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that VT allows accurate evaluation of IDM skills in a format that is acceptable to orthopaedic surgeons. Videoconferencing technology may be useful in long-distance SP communication assessment for a variety of learners.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Management practices of Australian surgeons in the treatment of venous ulcers.

INTRODUCTION: Venous ulcers will affect 2% of the general population during the course of their lives causing significant morbidity. The aim of the present paper was to review assessment and treatment regimes used by surgeons throughout Australia and compare these with published guidelines. METHODS: A structured questionnaire was sent to all general and vascular surgeons in Australia. Questions detailing practice demographics, initial treatment, investigation and surgical intervention were asked. Responses were analysed using Fisher's exact test. RESULTS: A response rate of 36% was obtained from 1390 surgeons. This included 30% of the general surgeons and 67% of the vascular surgeons surveyed. Three hundred and seventy-one of these surgeons managed patients with venous ulcers. Vascular surgeons recorded ankle-brachial pressures (88%vs 55%; P < 0.0001) more frequently and used compression therapy more often than general surgeons (99%vs 61%; P < 0.0001). Superficial vein ablation was performed by 95% in the presence of superficial vein reflux and a normal deep system, 46% also performed this procedure in the setting of an incompetent deep system. Antibiotics were prescribed by 15% of surgeons with no evidence of infection. CONCLUSIONS: Initially venous ulcers are well managed in Australia; however, antibiotics are overprescribed in their treatment. The current rate of compression therapy use is low for some groups of surgeons and should be improved. The failure to use compression in all cases of venous ulcers and the overprescription of antibiotics in the absence of cellulitis suggests that significant improvements can be made in the management of venous ulcers in Australia.

Australia↗
PubMed2003

Identifying under-performing surgeons.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the likelihood of poor surgical results being explained by chance rather than under-performance. METHODS: The 30-day mortality rates after radical cystectomy for bladder cancer were analysed theoretically. Surgical competence was defined as a mortality rate of 4%, excellence as 2% and under-performance as 8%, 12%, 20% or 40%. Four scenarios were explored for surgeons of different competence: first, the sample size required to show that a given level of under-performance is very unlikely to be due to chance; second, the likelihood of two or more consecutive deaths in a series of cases; third, the likelihood of clustering of deaths, defined as two deaths in five or in 10 cases; and last, the likelihood of outstanding surgical results (i.e. no deaths) being achieved in small cohorts by surgeons of differing competence. RESULTS: For surgeons with a mortality rate of 8%, 12%, 20% or 40%, the sample sizes needed to prove under-performance are 211, 65, 21 and seven, respectively. For consecutive deaths, 0.4% of excellent, 1.4% of competent and 21% of surgeons with a mortality rate of 12% will experience two or more consecutive deaths in the next 10 cases. For clustered deaths, 1% of excellent, 5% of competent and 23% of seriously under-performing surgeons (mortality rates > or = 12%) will experience two deaths in their next 10 cases. Lastly, for the likelihood of outstanding results, only 3.6% of surgeons with an 8% mortality rate and < 1% of surgeons with a mortality rate > or = 12% will experience no deaths over 40 consecutive cases. CONCLUSIONS: Very large cohorts are needed to confirm even significant under-performance. Consecutive deaths are very unlikely events for competent surgeons. Clustered deaths (two deaths in 10 cases) are very unlikely events for excellent surgeons but plausible for competent ones. Analysis of consecutive/clustered deaths is limited by low statistical sensitivity; only up to a quarter of seriously under-performing surgeons are identified. No deaths in 40 consecutive cases implies competence.

Clinical Competence↗
PubMed2003

Surgeon volume and operative mortality in the United States.

BACKGROUND: Although the relation between hospital volume and surgical mortality is well established, for most procedures, the relative importance of the experience of the operating surgeon is uncertain. METHODS: Using information from the national Medicare claims data base for 1998 through 1999, we examined mortality among all 474,108 patients who underwent one of eight cardiovascular procedures or cancer resections. Using nested regression models, we examined the relations between operative mortality and surgeon volume and hospital volume (each in terms of total procedures performed per year), with adjustment for characteristics of the patients and other characteristics of the providers. RESULTS: Surgeon volume was inversely related to operative mortality for all eight procedures (P=0.003 for lung resection, P<0.001 for all other procedures). The adjusted odds ratio for operative death (for patients with a low-volume surgeon vs. those with a high-volume surgeon) varied widely according to the procedure--from 1.24 for lung resection to 3.61 for pancreatic resection. Surgeon volume accounted for a large proportion of the apparent effect of the hospital volume, to an extent that varied according to the procedure: it accounted for 100 percent of the effect for aortic-valve replacement, 57 percent for elective repair of an abdominal aortic aneurysm, 55 percent for pancreatic resection, 49 percent for coronary-artery bypass grafting, 46 percent for esophagectomy, 39 percent for cystectomy, and 24 percent for lung resection. For most procedures, the mortality rate was higher among patients of low-volume surgeons than among those of high-volume surgeons, regardless of the surgical volume of the hospital in which they practiced. CONCLUSIONS: For many procedures, the observed associations between hospital volume and operative mortality are largely mediated by surgeon volume. Patients can often improve their chances of survival substantially, even at high-volume hospitals, by selecting surgeons who perform the operations frequently.

Aged↗
PubMed2002

Surgeons' tone of voice: a clue to malpractice history.

BACKGROUND: Interpersonal aspects of care, such as the communication behaviors of physicians, are often cited as central to patients' decisions to initiate malpractice litigation. Relatively little is known, however, about the impact of the communication behaviors of surgeons. In the current study, we investigated the relationship between judgments of surgeons' voice tone and their malpractice claims history. METHODS: We examined the relationship between surgeons' voice tone during routine office visits and their history of malpractice claims. Surgeons were audiotaped while speaking to their patients during office visits, and very brief samples of the conversations were rated by coders blind to surgeons' claims status. Two 10-second clips were extracted for each surgeon from the first and last minute of their interactions with 2 different patients. Several variables were rated that assessed warmth, hostility, dominance, and anxiety from 10-second voice clips with content and 10-second voice clips with just voice tone. RESULTS: Controlling for content, ratings of higher dominance and lower concern/anxiety in their voice tones significantly identified surgeons with previous claims compared with those who had no claims (odds ratio [OR] 2.74, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.16 to 6.43 for dominance; OR 0.46, 95% CI 0.21 to 1.01 for concern/anxiety). CONCLUSIONS: Surgeons' tone of voice in routine visits is associated with malpractice claims history. This is the first study to show clear associations between communication and malpractice in surgeons. Specific types of affect associated with claims can be judged from brief audio clips, suggesting that this method might be useful in training surgeons.

Communication↗
PubMed2002

The distribution of carotid endarterectomy procedures among surgeons and hospitals in New York state: is regionalization of specialized vascular care occurring?

INTRODUCTION: In a published analysis of all carotid endarterectomies (CEAs) performed in New York state from 1990 to 1995, perioperative mortality rate was inversely correlated with surgeon and hospital CEA volume, was significantly higher when CEAs were performed by surgeons who performed less than five CEAs annually, and was significantly lower in hospitals where surgeons performed more than 100 CEAs annually. The purpose of this study was to determine whether this information has influenced practice patterns in New York state. METHODS: The database of the Center for Medical Consumers was queried to determine the volume distribution among surgeons and hospitals of all CEAs performed in New York state in 1999 and 2000. RESULTS: During 1999, 695 surgeons in 169 hospitals performed 9458 CEAs (mean, 13.6 per surgeon). Three hundred fifty-three surgeons (51%) performed less than five CEAs, and 180 (26%) performed only one CEA during the year. Only 41 surgeons (6%) performed more than 50 CEAs. Likewise, in only 28 of the hospitals (17%) were more than 100 CEAs performed during 1999, whereas in 73 of the hospitals (43%) 20 or less CEAs were carried out during the year. During 2000, 684 surgeons performed 8196 CEAs in 165 hospitals. Three hundred fifty-three (52%) performed less than five CEAs, and 229 (33%) performed only one CEA during the year. Only 33 surgeons (5%) performed more than 50 CEAs during 2000. In only 26 hospitals (16%) were more than 100 CEAs performed during 2000, whereas in 71 hospitals (43%) 20 or less CEAs were carried out. CONCLUSION: It appears that published compelling evidence that operator and institutional volume influence outcome has not influenced referral patterns or led to a regionalization of CEA care in New York state. Robust educational programs directed to patients and referring physicians appear indicated.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1994

Screening surgeons for HIV infection: assessment of a potential public health program.

OBJECTIVE: To develop a model to assess the impact of a program of testing surgeons for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) on the risk of HIV acquisition by their patients. DESIGN: A Monte Carlo simulation model of physician-to-patient transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection using three different rates of physician-to-patient transmission per percutaneous exposure event (0.15%, 0.3%, 0.6%). Data from the model were developed from a review of the medical literature and from subjective probability estimates when data were not available. We used this model to estimate on a national basis the annual number of cases of HIV transmission from surgeons to patients with and without surgeon testing and practice limitations. RESULTS: The annual number of transmitted cases would range from 0.5 (+/- 0.3), assuming a surgeon HIV prevalence of 0.1% and a surgeon-to-patient transmission rate of 0.15%, to 36.9 (+/- 11.6), assuming a surgeon HIV prevalence of 2% and a surgeon-to-patient transmission rate of 0.6%. After one screening cycle, a mandatory screening program would be expected to reduce the annual transmissions to 0.05 (+/- 0.03) and 3.1 (+/- 1.1), respectively. CONCLUSION: Patients are at low risk of acquiring HIV infection from an infected physician during an invasive procedure. The potential costs of such a program extended beyond the costs of testing and counseling. In communities with high HIV prevalence, screening surgeons and limiting their practices may decrease patient access to care. A disability insurance program also would be required to protect surgeons and trainees performing invasive procedures. Screening surgeons for HIV infection would be a costly undertaking that would reduce but not completely eliminate this risk.

AIDS Serodiagnosis↗
PubMed1996

Statistical modeling to predict elective surgery time. Comparison with a computer scheduling system and surgeon-provided estimates.

BACKGROUND: Accurate estimation of operating times is a prerequisite for the efficient scheduling of the operating suite. The authors, in this study, sought to compare surgeons' time estimates for elective cases with those of commercial scheduling software, and to ascertain whether improvements could be made by regression modeling. METHODS: The study was conducted at the University of Washington Medical Center in three phases. Phase 1 retrospectively reviewed surgeons' time estimates and the scheduling system's estimates throughout 1 yr. In phase 2, data were collected prospectively from participating surgeons by means of a data entry form completed at the time of scheduling elective cases. Data included the procedure code, estimated operating time, estimated case difficulty, and potential factors that might affect the duration. In phase 3, identical data were collected from five selected surgeons by personal interview. RESULTS: In phase 1, 26 of 43 surgeons provided significantly better estimates than did the scheduling system (P < 0.01), and no surgeon was significantly worse, although the absolute errors were large (34% of 157 min average case length). In phase 2, modeling improved the accuracy of the surgeons' estimates by 11.5%, compared with the scheduling system. In phase 3, applying the model from phase 2 improved the accuracy of the surgeons' estimates by 18.2%. CONCLUSIONS: Surgeons provide more accurate time estimates than does the scheduling software as it is used in our institution. Regression modeling effects modest improvements in accuracy. Further improvements would be likely if the hospital information system could provide timely historical data and feedback to the surgeons.

Appointments and Schedules↗
PubMed2001

Patient volume per surgeon does not predict survival in adult level I trauma centers.

BACKGROUND: The 1999 American College of Surgeons resources for optimal care document added the requirement that Level I trauma centers admit over 240 patients with Injury Severity Score (ISS) > 15 per year or that trauma surgeons care for at least 35 patients per year. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that high volume of patients with ISS > 15 per individual trauma surgeon is associated with improved outcome. METHODS: Data were obtained from the trauma registry of the five American College of Surgeons-verified adult Level I trauma centers in our mature trauma system between January 1, 1998, and March 31, 1999. Data abstracted included age, sex, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score, intensive care unit length of stay, hospital length of stay, probability of survival (Ps), mechanism of injury, number of patients per each trauma surgeon and institution, and mortality. Multiple logistic regression was performed to select independent variables for modeling of survival. RESULTS: From the five Level I centers there were 11,932 trauma patients in this time interval; of these, 1,754 patients (14.7%) with ISS > 15 were identified and used for analysis. Patients with ISS > 15 varied from 173 to 625 per institution; trauma surgeons varied from 8 to 25 per institution; per-surgeon patient volume varied from 0.8 to 96 per year. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the best independent predictors of survival were Ps, GCS score, age, mechanism of injury, and institutional volume (p < 0.01). Age and institutional volume correlated negatively with survival. Analysis of per-surgeon patient caseload added no additional predictive value (p = 0.44). CONCLUSION: The significant independent predictors of survival in severely injured trauma patients are Ps, GCS score, age, mechanism of injury, and institutional volume. We found no statistically meaningful contribution to the prediction of survival on the basis of per-surgeon patient volume. Since this volume criterion for surgeon enpanelment and trauma center designation would not be expected to improve outcome, such a requirement should be justified by other measures or abandoned.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Measuring and predicting surgeons' practice styles for breast cancer treatment in older women.

BACKGROUND: Few measures exist to assess physicians' practice style, and there are few data on physicians' practice styles and patterns of care. OBJECTIVES: To use clinical vignettes to measure surgeons' "propensity" for local treatments for early-stage breast cancer and to describe factors associated with propensity. RESEARCH DESIGN AND SUBJECTS: A cross-sectional mailed survey with telephone follow-up of a random sample of 1,000 surgeons treating Medicare beneficiaries in fee-for-service settings. MEASURES: Outcome measures include treatment propensity, self-reported practice, and actual treatment received by the surgeons' patients. RESULTS: Propensities were significantly associated with actual treatment, controlling for covariates. Area Medicare fees were the strongest predictor of propensity, followed by region, attitudes, volume, and gender. For instance, after other factors were considered, surgeons practicing in areas with the highest breast-conserving surgery (BCS) fees were 8.61 (95% CI 2.26-32.73) times more likely to have a BCS propensity than surgeons in areas with the lowest fees. Surgeons with the strongest beliefs in patient participation in treatment decisions were nearly 6 times (95% CI 1.67-20.84) more likely to have a BCS propensity than surgeons with the lowest such beliefs, controlling for covariates. Male surgeons were also independently more likely to have a mastectomy propensity than female surgeons. CONCLUSIONS: Surgeons' propensities explain some of the observed variations in breast cancer treatment patterns among older women. Standardized scenarios provide a practical method to measure practice style and could be used to evaluate physician contributions to shared decision making, practice patterns, costs and outcomes, and adherence to guidelines.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Radical retropubic prostatectomy. How often do experienced surgeons have positive surgical margins when there is extraprostatic extension in the region of the neurovascular bundle?

PURPOSE: We determined the frequency of positive surgical margins (PSMs) in patients with extraprostatic extension (EPE) in the region of the neurovascular bundle (NVB) who underwent open radical retropubic prostatectomy by 2 experienced surgeons. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 204 men with EPE in the region of the NVB underwent surgery by 2 experienced surgeons. The frequency of PSMs in the area of the NVB as well as the nerve sparing status of each lobe of the prostate were determined through a retrospective investigation of the pathology database as well as the physician's database. The recovery of sexual function was determined and compared to controls. RESULTS: The age, clinical stage, biopsy Gleason sum and serum prostate specific antigen of the patients operated on by surgeons 1 and 2 were similar. Surgeon 1 widely excised at least 1 neurovascular bundle in 16% of the patients and surgeon 2 in 63%. The overall frequency of PSMs at the NVB was 5.9% for surgeon 1 and 5.8% for surgeon 2. Of the evaluable patients followed for 12 months or longer 83.5% of those operated on by surgeon 1 were potent compared to 63.8% of those operated on by surgeon 2. CONCLUSIONS: Visual and tactile assessment during open surgery by an experienced surgeon provides valuable information on when and where it is safe to preserve the neurovascular bundle in patients with EPE in the region of the NVB. Surgical approaches in which tactile sensation is muted or absent, laparoscopic and robotic, need to undergo a similar evaluation to determine whether magnification of the operative field is sufficient to overcome the lack of haptic feedback and ability to palpate the tissue.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Variations among high volume surgeons in the rate of complications after radical prostatectomy: further evidence that technique matters.

PURPOSE: A strong association between surgeon, hospital volume and postoperative morbidity of radical prostatectomy has been demonstrated. While better outcomes are associated with high volume surgeons, the degree of variation in outcomes among surgeons has not been fully examined. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using a linked database from Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results registries and federal Medicare claims data, we analyzed outcomes of consecutive patients treated with radical prostatectomy between 1992 and 1996. We focused on variations in several measures of morbidity (perioperative complications, late urinary complications and long-term incontinence) among patients of high volume surgeons, defined as those with 20 or more patients in the study period. After adjusting for hospital, surgeon volume and case mix, we examined the extent to which variations in the rates of adverse outcomes differed among surgeons for all 3 end points. RESULTS: Of the 999 surgeons 16% (159) performed 48.7% (5,238) of the 10,737 radical prostatectomies during the study. The 30-day mortality rate was 0.5%, the major postoperative complication rate was 28.6%, late urinary complications 25.2% (major events 16%) and long-term incontinence 6.7%. For all 3 morbidity outcomes the variation among surgeons in the rate of complications was significantly greater than that expected by chance (p =0.001 for each) after adjustment of covariates. Furthermore, surgeons with better (or worse) than average results with regard to 1 outcome were likely to have better (or worse, respectively) results with regard to the other 2 outcome measures. CONCLUSIONS: Morbidity end points that directly affect quality of life showed significant variability among high volume providers. Surgeons who performed well in 1 area (eg postoperative complications) performed well in others. These results further suggest that variations in surgical technique and postoperative care lead to variations in outcomes after radical prostatectomy, indicating that outcomes of this operation are sensitive to small differences in performance.

Aged↗