Impact of volume and specialization for cancer surgery
Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › Contributed › peer-review
Contributors
Abstract
Background/Aims: The so-called volume/outcome relationship postulates that a higher caseload and specialization results in an improved outcome. The existence of such a relationship, however, is still debated in the literature. The objective of this review is to discuss the available data on this relationship in surgical oncology. Methods: A Medline analysis was performed using the following terms: volume, outcome, cancer, and surgery. The bibliography of each relevant article was screened for further studies. Results: For most malignancies a volume/outcome relationship was demonstrated in recent years. Components of this improved outcome are decreased perioperative morbidity and mortality, higher quality of life after surgery, improved economic outcome, and a better long-term prognosis for patients with cancer. The magnitude of this relationship, however, varies greatly among different malignancies. The exact reason for the volume/outcome relationship is still unknown. Conclusion: Concentrating high-risk procedures in high-volume hospitals might prevent thousands of perioperative deaths per year. This concept seems feasible for rare and high-risk diseases; however, it is unclear what threshold should be used for the definition of a high-volume provider. For common and low-risk diagnoses, it seems more realistic to educate the medical community in order to improve the outcome for the patients.
Details
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 253-261 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | igestive surgery : official journal of the International Society for Digestive Surgery (ISDS) and European Digestive Surgery (EDS) |
Volume | 21 |
Issue number | 4 |
Publication status | Published - 2004 |
Peer-reviewed | Yes |
Externally published | Yes |
External IDs
PubMed | 15308864 |
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Keywords
Sustainable Development Goals
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Keywords
- High-risk surgery, Volume-outcome relationship