Clavien classification in urology: Is there concordance among post-graduate trainees and attending urologists?

PURPOSE: We assess the variations between post-graduate trainees (PGTs) and attending urologists in applying the Revised Clavien-Dindo Classification System (RCCS) to urological complications. METHODS: Twenty postoperative complications were selected from urology service Quality Assurance meeting minutes spanning 1 year at a tertiary care centre. The cases were from adult and pediatric sites and included minor and major complications. After a briefing session to review the RCCS, the survey was administered to 16 attending urologists and 16 PGTs. Concordance rates between the two groups were calculated for each case and for the whole survey. Inter-rater agreement was calculated by kappa statistics. RESULTS: There was good overall agreement rate of 81 % (range: 30-100) when both groups were compared. Thirteen of the 20 cases (65%) held an agreement rate above 80% (k = 0.753, p < 0.001) including 3 (15%) cases with 100% agreement. There were only 2 cases where the scores given by PGTs were significantly different from that given by attending urologists (p ≤ 0.03). There was no significant difference between both groups in terms of overall RCCS grades (p = 0.12). When all participants were compared as one group, there was good overall inter-rater agreement rate of 75% (k = 0.71). Although the percent of overall agreement rate among PGTs was higher than the attending urologists (82% [k = 0.79] vs. 69% [k = 0.64]), this was not significantly different (p = 0.68). CONCLUSION: There was good overall agreement among PGTs and attending urologists in application of the RCCS in urology. Therefore, it is appropriate for PGTs to complete the Quality Assurance meeting reports.

Determinants of performance on the Transfer Task of the Basic Laparoscopic Urologic Surgery (BLUS(©)) curriculum administered at objective structured clinical examinations.

PURPOSE: To assess determinants of performance on the Transfer Task of the Basic Laparoscopic Urologic Surgery (BLUS(©)) skills curriculum administered at Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs). METHODS: After obtaining Institutional Review Board approval and informed consent, urology trainees (Postgraduate Year [PGY]-3 to PGY-5) from four different training programs (A, B, C, D) were recruited for the study. Transfer Task Times (TTTs) were compared and correlated with previous laparoscopic experience, amount of endotrainer practice and scores obtained at practice sessions and other OSCE stations. RESULTS: A total of 37 trainees were evaluated on three successive semiannual OSCEs from May 2011 to May 2012, including 16 (43.2%) trainees from program A with a dedicated laparoscopic skills training program. Compared with trainees from programs B, C, and D, trainees from program A had significantly more practice per week (0 v 45 minutes, p=0.001) and significantly lower median TTTs at OSCEs (114 [68-209] v 74 [52-189] seconds, p=0.001) despite significantly lower number of laparoscopic cases assisted within the previous 6 months (13 [0-57] v 2 [0-35], p=0.001). For program A trainees, TTTs moderately correlated with median TTTs at practice sessions (r=0.57, p=0.001) and negatively correlated with amount of practice per week (r=-0.41, p=0.003). Thus, more training resulted in faster times at OSCEs. On multivariate analysis, amount of practice per week was the only significant predictor of TTTs at OSCEs (p=0.028). CONCLUSION: Performance on the transfer task of BLUS during OSCEs significantly correlated with the amount of practice rather than the number of laparoscopic cases assisted.

Does transperitoneal minimally invasive radical prostatectomy increase the amount of small bowel receiving salvage radiation?

INTRODUCTION: Transperitoneal minimally invasive radical prostatectomy (MIRP) has become first choice for several urologists and patients dealing with localized prostate cancer. We evaluate the effect of postoperative radiation on the small bowel in patients who underwent extraperitoneal open versus transperitoneal MIRP. METHODS: We reviewed all patients who received postoperative radiation from 2006 to 2010. Planning target volume (PTV) and surrounding organs, including the small bowel, were delineated. The presence of the small bowel in PTV and its volume in receiving each dose level were analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 122 patients were included: 26 underwent MIRP and 96 underwent open prostatectomy. The median age of patients was 66 years, with median body mass index 27 kg/m(2). The total PTV dose was 66 Gy, with the minimum and maximum doses received by the small bowel 0.4 and 66.4 Gy, respectively. The maximum volume of small bowel that received the safe limit of 40 Gy was 569 cm(3). Of the 26 patients who underwent MIRP, 12 (46%) had small bowel identified inside the PTV compared to 57 (59%) among patients who underwent open prostatectomy (p = 0.228). The mean volume of the small bowel receiving 40 Gy was 26 and 67 cm(3) in open and MIRP groups, respectively (p = 0.006); the incidence of acute complications was the same in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: Higher volumes of the small bowel are subjected to significant radiation after MIRP procedures compared to open procedures; however, we could not demonstrate any impact on acute complications. Whether there is a difference in late complications remains to be evaluated.

Retroperitoneal lymph node dissection for residual masses after chemotherapy in nonseminomatous germ cell testicular tumor.

BACKGROUND: Retroperitoneal lymph node dissection has been advocated for the management of post-chemotherapy (PC-RPLND) residual masses of non-seminomatous germ cell tumors of the testis (NSGCT). There remains some debate as to the clinical benefit and associated morbidity. Our objective was to report our experience with PC-RPLND in NSGCT. METHODS: We have reviewed the clinical, pathologic and surgical parameters associated with PC-RPLND in a single institution. Between 1994 and 2008, three surgeons operated 73 patients with residual masses after cisplatin-based chemotherapy for a metastatic testicular cancer. Patients needed to have normal postchemotherapy serum tumor markers, no prior surgical attempts to resect retroperitoneal masses and resectable retroperitoneal tumor mass at surgery to be included in this analysis RESULTS: Mean age was 30.4 years old. Fifty-three percent had mixed germ cell tumors. The mean size of retroperitoneal metastasis was 6.3 and 4.0 cm, before and post-chemotherapy, respectively. In 56% of patients, the surgeon was able to perform a nerve sparing procedure. The overall complication rate was 27.4% and no patient died due to surgical complications. The pathologic review showed presence of fibrosis/necrosis, teratoma and viable tumor (non-teratoma) in 27 (37.0%), 30 (41.1%) and 16 (21.9%) patients, respectively. The subgroups presenting fibrosis and large tumors were more likely to have a surgical complication and had less nerve sparing procedures. CONCLUSION: PC-RPLND is a relatively safe procedure. The presence of fibrosis and large residual masses are associated with surgical complications and non-nerve-sparing procedure.