• Surg J R Coll Surg E · Dec 2013

    Does concentration of surgical expertise improve outcomes for laparoscopic cholecystectomy? 9 year audit cycle.

    • S Andrews.
    • Royal Devon and Exeter Foundation Trust, Barrack Road, Exeter, Devon EX2 5DW, UK. Electronic address: stuart.andrews76@btinternet.com.
    • Surg J R Coll Surg E. 2013 Dec 1; 11 (6): 309-12.

    BackgroundEvidence from surgery shows that high volume is often associated with better outcomes. The aim of this study was to investigate this principle related to elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy practice.MethodsA retrospective analysis of all conversions and complications for patients undergoing elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy was performed. Data was collected and then repeated after restrictions were implemented to concentrate practice. Hospital databases and patient notes were used to collect data.ResultsBetween January 1999 and March 2004, 1605 laparoscopic cholecystectomies were performed by 8 surgeons. Case load varied from an average of <1 to 104 procedures per annum. Only 1 surgeon was an upper gastrointestinal specialist. Overall rates for conversion to open surgery were 4.9%, common bile duct injury was 0.31%, bile leak 0.75%, bowel injury 0.25%, haemorrhage 0.44% and death 0.06%, which met guidelines. Significant correlation between conversion and procedure number was identified (p=0.033) Between April 2006 and March 2010, 1820 laparoscopic cholecystectomies were performed by 4 surgeons. Case load varied from 23 to 268 procedures per annum, 2 surgeons were upper gastrointestinal specialists. Overall rates for conversion to open surgery were 3.5%, common bile duct injury 0.1%, bile leak 0.9%, bowel injury 0.21%, haemorrhage 0.16% and death 0.1%. Conversion rates were significantly lower in re-audit data (p=0.027), but remained lowest for the highest volume sub-specialist surgeons (p=0.016).ConclusionsConcentrating expertise to those surgeons with interest and commitment to laparoscopic cholecystectomy service led to standardisation and reduction in conversion rates. There is correlation between volume of surgery and outcomes.Copyright © 2013 Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (Scottish charity number SC005317) and Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

      Pubmed     Full text   Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…