Emergency general surgery: Impact of hospital and surgeon admission case volume on mortality

Comprehensive assessment of the management of acute cholecystitis in Scotland: population-wide cohort study

BACKGROUND

Acute cholecystitis is one of the most common diagnoses presenting to emergency general surgery and is managed either operatively or conservatively. However, operative rates vary widely across the world. This real-world population analysis aimed to describe the current clinical management and outcomes of patients with acute cholecystitis across Scotland, UK.

METHODS

This was a national cohort study using data obtained from Information Services Division, Scotland. All adult patients with the admission diagnostic code for acute cholecystitis were included. Data were used to identify all patients admitted to Scottish hospitals between 1997 and 2019 and outcomes tracked for inpatients or after discharge through the unique patient identifier. This was linked to death data, including date of death.

RESULTS

A total of 47 558 patients were diagnosed with 58 824 episodes of acute cholecystitis (with 27.2 per cent of patients experiencing more than one episode) in 46 Scottish hospitals. Median age was 58 years (interquartile range (i.q.r.) 43-71), 64.4 per cent were female, and most (76.1 per cent) had no comorbidities. A total of 28 741 (60.4 per cent) patients had an operative intervention during the index admission. Patients who had an operation during their index admission had a lower risk of 90-day mortality compared with non-operative management (OR 0.62, 95% c.i. 0.55-0.70).

CONCLUSION

In this study, 60 per cent of patients had an index cholecystectomy. Patients who underwent surgery had a better survival rate compared with those managed conservatively, further advocating for an operative approach in this cohort.

Case volume and rate are associated with outcomes in geriatric trauma: A case for geriatric trauma centers?

BACKGROUND

Increased morbidity and mortality in geriatric trauma patients are usually due to decreased physiologic reserve and increased comorbidities. It is unclear whether geriatric trauma case volume and rates correlate with survival. We hypothesized that geriatric patients would have increased survival when treated in high-case volume and rate trauma centers.

METHODS

A retrospective cohort study was conducted using the Trauma Quality Improvement Program database between 2015 and 2019. Geriatric trauma patients (≥65 years) with severe injury (Injury Severity Score ≥16) were included. Geriatric case volume (GCV) was defined as the mean annual number of treated geriatric trauma patients, while geriatric case rate (GCR) was the mean annual number of elderly trauma patients divided by all trauma patients in each center. Trauma centers were classified into low-, medium-, and high-volume and rate facilities based on GCV and GCR. The association of GCV and GCR with in-hospital mortality and complication rates was assessed using the generalized additive model (GAM) and multivariate generalized linear mixed model adjusted for patient characteristics (age, sex, Injury Severity Score, Revised Trauma Score, and Modified Frailty Index) as fixed-effect variables and hospital characteristics as random effect variables.

RESULTS

A total of 164,818 geriatric trauma patients from 812 hospitals were included in the analysis. The GAM plots showed that the adjusted odds of in-hospital mortality decreased as GCV and the GCR increased. The generalized linear mixed model revealed that both high GCV and high GCR hospitals had lower mortality rates than low GCV and GCR hospitals (adjusted odds ratio [95% confidence interval], high GCV and high GCR centers; 0.82 [0.72-0.92] and 0.81 [0.73-0.90], respectively).

CONCLUSION

Both high geriatric trauma volume and rates were associated with decreased mortality of geriatric trauma patients. Consolidation of care for elderly patients with severe injury in specialized high-volume centers may be considered.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Therapeutic/Care Management; Level III.

Training curriculum in minimally invasive emergency digestive surgery: 2022 WSES position paper

BACKGROUND

Minimally invasive surgery (MIS), including laparoscopic and robotic approaches, is widely adopted in elective digestive surgery, but selectively used for surgical emergencies. The present position paper summarizes the available evidence concerning the learning curve to achieve proficiency in emergency MIS and provides five expert opinion statements, which may form the basis for developing standardized curricula and training programs in emergency MIS.

METHODS

This position paper was conducted according to the World Society of Emergency Surgery methodology. A steering committee and an international expert panel were involved in the critical appraisal of the literature and the development of the consensus statements.

RESULTS

Thirteen studies regarding the learning curve in emergency MIS were selected. All but one study considered laparoscopic appendectomy. Only one study reported on emergency robotic surgery. In most of the studies, proficiency was achieved after an average of 30 procedures (range: 20-107) depending on the initial surgeon's experience. High heterogeneity was noted in the way the learning curve was assessed. The experts claim that further studies investigating learning curve processes in emergency MIS are needed. The emergency surgeon curriculum should include a progressive and adequate training based on simulation, supervised clinical practice (proctoring), and surgical fellowships. The results should be evaluated by adopting a credentialing system to ensure quality standards. Surgical proficiency should be maintained with a minimum caseload and constantly evaluated. Moreover, the training process should involve the entire surgical team to facilitate the surgeon's proficiency.

CONCLUSIONS

Limited evidence exists concerning the learning process in laparoscopic and robotic emergency surgery. The proposed statements should be seen as a preliminary guide for the surgical community while stressing the need for further research.

Emergency general surgery: impact of distance and rurality on mortality

BACKGROUND

There is debate about whether the distance from hospital, or rurality, impacts outcomes in patients admitted under emergency general surgery (EGS). The aim of this study was to determine whether distance from hospital, or rurality, affects the mortality of emergency surgical patients admitted in Scotland.

METHODS

This was a retrospective population-level cohort study, including all EGS patients in Scotland aged 16 years or older admitted between 1998 and 2018. A multiple logistic regression model was created with inpatient mortality as the dependent variable, and distance from hospital (in quartiles) as the independent variable of interest, adjusting for age, sex, co-morbidity, deprivation, admission origin, diagnosis category, operative category, and year of admission. A second multiple logistic regression model was created with a six-fold Scottish Urban Rural Classification (SURC) as the independent variable of interest. Subgroup analyses evaluated patients who required operations, emergency laparotomy, and inter-hospital transfer.

RESULTS

Data included 1 572 196 EGS admissions. Those living in the farthest distance quartile from hospital had lower odds of mortality than those in the closest quartile (OR 0.829, 95 per cent c.i. 0.798 to 0.861). Patients from the most rural areas (SURC 6) had higher odds of survival than those from the most urban (SURC 1) areas (OR 0.800, 95 per cent c.i. 0.755 to 0.848). Subgroup analysis showed that these effects were not observed for patients who required emergency laparotomy or transfer.

CONCLUSION

EGS patients who live some distance from a hospital, or in rural areas, have lower odds of mortality, after adjusting for multiple covariates. Rural and distant patients undergoing emergency laparotomy have no survival advantage, and transferred patients have higher mortality.