• Matthew T McMillan, Sameer Soi, Horacio J Asbun, Chad G Ball, Claudio Bassi, Joal D Beane, Stephen W Behrman, Adam C Berger, Mark Bloomston, Mark P Callery, John D Christein, Elijah Dixon, Jeffrey A Drebin, Carlos Fernandez-Del Castillo, William E Fisher, Zhi Ven Fong, Michael G House, Steven J Hughes, Tara S Kent, John W Kunstman, Giuseppe Malleo, Benjamin C Miller, Ronald R Salem, Kevin Soares, Vicente Valero, Christopher L Wolfgang, and Charles M Vollmer.
• *Department of Surgery, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania†Department of Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida‡Department of Surgery, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada§Department of Surgery, University of Verona, Verona, Italy¶Department of Surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana||Department of Surgery, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, Tennessee**Department of Surgery, Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania††Department of Surgery, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio‡‡Department of Surgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts§§Department of Surgery, University of Alabama School of Medicine, Birmingham, Alabama¶¶Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts||||Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas***Department of Surgery, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida†††Department of Surgery, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut‡‡‡Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
• Ann. Surg. 2016 Aug 1; 264 (2): 344-52.

ObjectiveTo evaluate surgical performance in pancreatoduodenectomy using clinically relevant postoperative pancreatic fistula (CR-POPF) occurrence as a quality indicator.BackgroundAccurate assessment of surgeon and institutional performance requires (1) standardized definitions for the outcome of interest and (2) a comprehensive risk-adjustment process to control for differences in patient risk.MethodsThis multinational, retrospective study of 4301 pancreatoduodenectomies involved 55 surgeons at 15 institutions. Risk for CR-POPF was assessed using the previously validated Fistula Risk Score, and pancreatic fistulas were stratified by International Study Group criteria. CR-POPF variability was evaluated and hierarchical regression analysis assessed individual surgeon and institutional performance.ResultsThere was considerable variability in both CR-POPF risk and occurrence. Factors increasing the risk for CR-POPF development included increasing Fistula Risk Score (odds ratio 1.49 per point, P < 0.00001) and octreotide (odds ratio 3.30, P < 0.00001). When adjusting for risk, performance outliers were identified at the surgeon and institutional levels. Of the top 10 surgeons (≥15 cases) for nonrisk-adjusted performance, only 6 remained in this high-performing category following risk adjustment.ConclusionsThis analysis of pancreatic fistulas following pancreatoduodenectomy demonstrates considerable variability in both the risk and occurrence of CR-POPF among surgeons and institutions. Disparities in patient risk between providers reinforce the need for comprehensive, risk-adjusted modeling when assessing performance based on procedure-specific complications. Furthermore, beyond inherent patient risk factors, surgical decision-making influences fistula outcomes.

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