OBJECTIVES: To calculate in-hospital mortality after lobectomy for primary lung cancer in the United Kingdom; to explore the validity of using such data to assess the quality of UK thoracic surgeons; and to investigate the relation between in-hospital mortality and the number of procedures performed by surgeons. DESIGN: Retrospective study. SETTING: 36 departments dealing with thoracic surgery in UK hospitals. PARTICIPANTS: 4028 patients who had undergone lobectomy for primary lung cancer by one of 102 surgeons. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: In-hospital mortality in relation to individual surgeons, among all patients, and among each of five groups of patients defined by the number of operations performed by the surgeon. RESULTS: 103 patients (2.6%, 95% confidence interval 2.1% to 3.1%) died after surgery during the same hospital admission. No significant difference was found for in-hospital mortality between the five groups. CONCLUSIONS: The number of procedures performed by a thoracic surgeon is not related to in-hospital mortality. Reporting data on in-hospital mortality after lobectomy for primary lung cancer is a poor tool for measuring a surgeon's performance.
OBJECTIVES: To calculate in-hospital mortality after lobectomy for primary lung cancer in the United Kingdom; to explore the validity of using such data to assess the quality of UK thoracic surgeons; and to investigate the relation between in-hospital mortality and the number of procedures performed by surgeons. DESIGN: Retrospective study. SETTING: 36 departments dealing with thoracic surgery in UK hospitals. PARTICIPANTS: 4028 patients who had undergone lobectomy for primary lung cancer by one of 102 surgeons. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: In-hospital mortality in relation to individual surgeons, among all patients, and among each of five groups of patients defined by the number of operations performed by the surgeon. RESULTS: 103 patients (2.6%, 95% confidence interval 2.1% to 3.1%) died after surgery during the same hospital admission. No significant difference was found for in-hospital mortality between the five groups. CONCLUSIONS: The number of procedures performed by a thoracic surgeon is not related to in-hospital mortality. Reporting data on in-hospital mortality after lobectomy for primary lung cancer is a poor tool for measuring a surgeon's performance.
Authors: John D Birkmeyer; Andrea E Siewers; Emily V A Finlayson; Therese A Stukel; F Lee Lucas; Ida Batista; H Gilbert Welch; David E Wennberg Journal: N Engl J Med Date: 2002-04-11 Impact factor: 91.245
Authors: Nicole Ezer; Minal Kale; Keith Sigel; Sameer Lakha; Grace Mhango; Emily Goodman; Daniel Nicastri; Scott Swanson; Alfred Neugut; Juan P Wisnivesky Journal: Ann Am Thorac Soc Date: 2018-01