Recent trends of hepatic resection in Canada: 1995-2004.

INTRODUCTION: Recently, many surgical procedures have become regionalized in the United States, likely owing to research demonstrating a relationship between volume and outcome. We sought to describe patient characteristics and outcomes according to hospital volume along with patterns of regionalization for hepatic resection in Canada from 1995 to 2004.
METHODS: Discharge data from all hospitals across Canada except Quebec were obtained from the Canadian Institute for Health Information for 1995-2004. All patients undergoing a hepatic resection were identified using ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes. High-volume hospitals were defined as those performing ten or more procedures per year.
RESULTS: A total of 9,912 patients (mean age 59 years) underwent hepatic resection. The proportion of procedures performed at high-volume hospitals increased from 42% in 1995 to 84% in 2004. Overall mortality rate for the study period was 5.0% which decreased over time. Mortality rates were higher at low-volume (6.1%) compared to high-volume centers (4.6%), but this finding was not statistically significant (p = 0.7451). Those factors predictive of mortality in a multivariate analysis included age, gender, year of operation, operative indication, comorbidity score, and admission status. DISCUSSION: Mortality rates have significantly improved. Hospital volume is not a significant predictor of mortality following liver resection in Canada.