The lancet oncology
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The lancet oncology · Jan 2015
ReviewAssessment of the quality of surgery within randomised controlled trials for the treatment of gastro-oesophageal cancer: a systematic review.
Multicentre, randomised, controlled trials (RCTs) provide level 1 evidence for surgery in the treatment of gastro-oesophageal cancer. This systematic review investigated whether standardisation of surgical techniques in RCTs reduces the variation in lymph-node harvest, in-hospital mortality, and locoregional cancer recurrence. ⋯ Factors that reduced adjusted in-hospital mortality included credentialing surgeons through procedural volume and operative reports, and standardisation of surgical techniques. Future RCTs should include an assessment of surgical performance as an important aspect of study design to reduce variation in clinical outcomes.