The association between gender and industry payments to minimally invasive surgeons.

BACKGROUND: It is unknown if there are differential industry payments to surgeons based on gender. This study aims to examine differences by gender for industry relations with minimally invasive surgeons, using speakers at the SAGES Annual Meeting as a proxy for key thought leaders in minimally invasive surgery. METHODS: We queried the Open Payments Database for payments made to US speakers from the 2023 SAGES meeting. All payments from the prior fiscal year prior were collected. The National Provider Identity (NPI) Registry was cross-referenced to determine surgeon's self-reported gender. Industry sponsors were analyzed based on differences in payments made. RESULTS: A total of 305 speakers were assessed, with 175 (57.4%) males and 130 (42.6%) females. Of the 305 speakers, 246 were listed in the OPD. There were 145/175 (82.8%) males who were received general payments, compared to 101/130 (77.6%) females (p = 0.326). The total amount of industry payments was $2,894,287 for males and $1,539,481 for females. Median payments were 2.8X higher for males ($4657, IQR $422-$15,798) than females ($1651, IQR $299-$9005) (p = 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Despite efforts to decrease gender bias in surgery, there remains a significant and substantial difference in payments towards male and female surgeons via industry relationships. This has potential downstream effects on career development, consulting and research opportunities, and development of new devices.

Concordance of financial disclosures among faculty at the 2018-2020 SAGES annual meetings.

BACKGROUND: Financial relationships with industry may bias educational content delivered by physicians. SAGES strives to mitigate potential bias, relying on physician self-reporting. Retrospective review of relationships is possible using the Open Payments Database (OPD), a public record of industry-reported payments to US physicians. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the SAGES disclosure process by comparing faculty disclosures to SAGES, faculty disclosures within presentations, and OPD records among speakers at the 2018-2020 SAGES meetings. METHODS: We reviewed all presentations from the SAGES 2018-2020 Annual Meetings. For each invited presentation, all slide-disclosed relationships were recorded. For US physicians, we queried the OPD and recorded relationships ≥ $500 USD in the calendar year prior to presentation. We compared the slide-disclosed relationships with OPD-reported relationships and with those provided to SAGES during the faculty disclosure process. We surveyed a sample of the 2020 annual meeting speakers to analyze potential reasons for discordance. RESULTS: From 2018 to 2020, there were 1,355 invited presentations, of which 1,234 (91%) were available for review. Disclosure slides were present in 1,098 (89%), increasing from 86% in 2018 to 93% in 2020. The proportion of speakers with OPD-reported relationships ≥ $500 increased from 54% in 2018 to 66% in 2020. The total value of OPD relationships decreased from $5.9 million (2018) to $3.3 million (2020) with a concomitant decrease in the proportion with high discordance from 9% in 2018 to 5% in 2020. Among the 2020 speakers with high discordance, the most common explanations for discordance were being unaware of payment or payment outside the 12-month timeframe (55%). CONCLUSIONS: Discordance between financial disclosures reported to SAGES and OPD highlight the need for improvements in the faculty disclosure process. SAGES will continue to streamline this process by incorporating faculty review of their OPD disclosures to ensure all educational programs remain free of commercial bias.

Patient decision-making in symptomatic gallbladder disease.

BACKGROUND: One in five people with gallstones develop symptoms (~ 13 million in the US), yet only a fraction undergo cholecystectomy. The frequency of and factors associated with patients choosing medical management for gallbladder disease are not well understood. The goal of this study was to assess patient decision-making regarding cholecystectomy, experiences with medical management, and interest in a clinical trial comparing cholecystectomy with medical management. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey from January 2020 through May 2020 using Amazon's crowdsourcing platform, MTurk. After a brief screening survey to determine gallbladder disease history and cholecystectomy status, eligible users without prior cholecystectomy were invited to complete the full survey for US $2.50. RESULTS: There were 148 responses included in analysis (93.7% of attempted). Participants were 54% female with a mean age of 36.2 (SD 11.3) years. 36% of participants had used medications or supplements to manage their symptoms with 17% using lecithin and 22% using ursodeoxycholic acid (Ursodiol®). 85% attempted lifestyle modifications to manage symptoms. Surgery was recommended for 60% of which 43% reported planning cholecystectomy. Among those recommended operation, most common reasons for pursuing were symptoms (50%) and symptoms interfering with care of family (42%), while most common reasons for not pursuing were risks of surgery/anesthesia (56%), ongoing medical management (50%), and symptom tolerance (38%). 67% reported willingness to participate in a clinical trial comparing medical management to cholecystectomy. CONCLUSION: A significant portion of patients with symptomatic gallbladder disease choose not to undergo cholecystectomy. One of the most common reasons for avoiding surgery was the use of alternative therapies, despite limited evidence to support their use. The lack of prospective comparison of cholecystectomy to medical therapies for the management of gallbladder disease, along with patient interest, support the need for a clinical trial.

Patterns of care after cholecystostomy tube placement.

BACKGROUND: The use of cholecystostomy (c-tube) in acute cholecystitis (AC) has increased yet there is limited evidence to guide surgical decision-making after placement. As a result, there is variability in the use and timing of cholecystectomy after c-tube. We aimed to describe patient characteristics, outcomes, and biliary-related utilization in those who did and did not have cholecystectomy after c-tube. METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study (2007-2017) using the MarketScan® claims database of patients (18-63 years) with at least 3 months of follow-up (or death). ICD-9/10 and CPT codes were used to identify AC, c-tube placement, cholecystectomy and determine Elixhauser comorbidity index. RESULTS: A total of 2386 patients (47.5% female, mean age 52.5 [SD 9.9] years) with AC underwent c-tube with an 11.2% 90-day mortality. Among survivors, by three months 57% underwent cholecystectomy (mean 34.8 days [95% CI: 33.3-36.3]). Cholecystectomy after c-tube was more common in those with fewer comorbid conditions (mean 2.41 [95% CI: 2.26-2.56] vs 4.56 [95%CI: 4.36-4.76]). Biliary episodes prior to cholecystectomy occurred in 12.5% and were associated with eventual cholecystectomy (HR 1.49 [1.32-1.68]). Biliary-specific hospital and ICU days were similar between groups. Biliary-specific ED visits were more common among patients with cholecystectomy (mean 1.39 [95% CI: 1.29-1.48] vs 0.94 [95% CI: 0.85-1.03]). CONCLUSION: More than half of patients treated with c-tube underwent cholecystectomy by three months-most within five weeks of AC diagnosis. The high frequency of use and short time to cholecystectomy after c-tube raises questions about potential overuse of c-tube in the initial period. Future work should aim to understand how patient experience and indication for c-tube influence the likelihood and timing of subsequent cholecystectomy.

The impact of socioeconomic status on telemedicine utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic among surgical clinics at an academic tertiary care center.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic caused many surgical providers to conduct outpatient evaluations using remote audiovisual conferencing technology (i.e., telemedicine) for the first time in 2020. We describe our year-long institutional experience with telemedicine in several general surgery clinics at an academic tertiary care center and examine the relationship between area-based socioeconomic measures and the likelihood of telemedicine participation. METHODS: We performed a retrospective review of our outpatient telemedicine utilization among four subspecialty clinics (including two acute care and two elective surgery clinics). Geocoding was used to link patient visit data to area-based socioeconomic measures and a multivariable analysis was performed to examine the relationship between socioeconomic indicators and patient participation in telemedicine. RESULTS: While total outpatient visits per month reached a nadir in April 2020 (65% decrease in patient visits when compared to January 2020), there was a sharp increase in telemedicine utilization during the same month (38% of all visits compared to 0.8% of all visits in the month prior). Higher rates of telemedicine utilization were observed in the two elective surgery clinics (61% and 54%) compared to the two acute care surgery clinics (14% and 9%). A multivariable analysis demonstrated a borderline-significant linear trend (p = 0.07) between decreasing socioeconomic status and decreasing odds of telemedicine participation among elective surgery visits. A sensitivity analysis to examine the reliability of this trend showed similar results. CONCLUSION: Telemedicine has many patient-centered benefits, and this study demonstrates that for certain elective subspecialty clinics, telemedicine may be utilized as the preferred method for surgical consultations. However, to ensure the equitable adoption and advancement of telemedicine services, healthcare providers will need to focus on mitigating the socioeconomic barriers to telemedicine participation.

IWATE criteria are associated with perioperative outcomes in robotic hepatectomy: a retrospective review of 225 resections.

BACKGROUND: Robotic hepatectomy (RH) is increasingly utilized for minor and major liver resections. The IWATE criteria were developed to classify minimally invasive liver resections by difficulty. The objective of this study was to apply the IWATE criteria in RH and to describe perioperative and oncologic outcomes of RH over the last decade at our institution. METHODS: Perioperative and oncologic outcomes of patients who underwent RH between 2011 and 2019 were retrospectively collected. The difficulty level of each operation was assessed using the IWATE criteria, and outcomes were compared at each level. Univariate linear regression was performed to characterize the relationship between IWATE criteria and perioperative outcomes (OR time, EBL, and LOS), and a multivariable model was also developed to address potential confounding by patient characteristics (age, sex, BMI, prior abdominal surgery, ASA class, and simultaneous non-hepatectomy operation). RESULTS: Two hundred and twenty-five RH were performed. Median IWATE criteria for RH were 6 (IQR 5-9), with low, intermediate, advanced, and expert resections accounting for 23% (n = 51), 34% (n = 77), 32% (n = 72), and 11% (n = 25) of resections, respectively. The majority of resections were parenchymal-sparing approaches, including anatomic segmentectomies and non-anatomic partial resections. 30-day complication rate was 14%, conversion to open surgery occurred in 9 patients (4%), and there were no deaths within 30 days postoperatively. In the univariate linear regression analysis, IWATE criteria were positively associated with OR time, EBL, and LOS. In the multivariable model, IWATE criteria were independently associated with greater OR time, EBL, and LOS. Two-year overall survival for hepatocellular carcinoma and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma was 94% and 50%, respectively. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, the IWATE criteria are associated with surgical outcomes after RH. This series highlights the utility of RH for difficult hepatic resections, particularly parenchymal-sparing resections in the posterosuperior sector, extending the indication of minimally invasive hepatectomy in experienced hands and potentially offering select patients an alternative to open hepatectomy or other less definitive liver-directed treatment options.

Disclosure at #SAGES2018: An analysis of physician-industry relationships of invited speakers at the 2018 SAGES national meeting.

BACKGROUND: Financial conflicts of interest (COI) have been shown to affect the interpretation of scientific findings. Publications with unreported COI tend to be more favorable to industry. Since 2014 industry payments to United States (US) physicians are publicly reported in the Open Payments Database (OPD). Several studies show high levels of unreported COI in medical literature; however, there is no research examining COI reporting at surgical conferences. We hypothesized that compliance with the COI disclosure requirement would be high at the 2018 SAGES meeting. However, we expected to find significant discrepancy between speaker-reported and OPD-reported COI. A secondary aim was to characterize the amount, source, and variation in industry payments to invited speakers. METHODS: We reviewed all available presentations from SAGES 2018 as recorded and publicly available on YouTube™ for the presence of COI disclosure and the disclosed industry relationships. For US physicians we searched the OPD and recorded all industry payments > $500. We compared the self-disclosed COI for each speaker with OPD records. Presentation topics were divided into ten groups to determine which topics received the most funding. RESULTS: Of the 526 invited presentations, 479 (91%) videos were available. Disclosures were reported by 414 presenters (86.4%). There were 420 unique presenters of which 315 were listed in the OPD. Speaker-reported disclosures were fully concordant with the OPD in 38.3% (121/315) of cases with 39% (123/315) under-reporting disclosures. Of presenters listed in OPD, the median payment was $992 ($0-$374,502) with a total of $6,389,097 paid in 2017. SAGES speakers failed to disclose $2,049,535 worth of industry payments with an average undisclosed payment of $16,662.88 (± $40,733.19). The largest financial contributor was Intuitive Surgical with $1,981,169 paid. Among topics, robotics and hernia received the most funding with $2,593,925 (40.6%) and $2,591,671 (40.5%) paid, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Overall compliance with SAGES disclosure rules is high. There remains a discrepancy between speaker- and industry-reported disclosures, including a number of undisclosed payments, some of which are substantial. Adjustments to disclosure rules to include the relative amount of compensation may be warranted.

Acetazolamide reduces postoperative pain following laparoscopic inguinal herniorrhaphy.

BACKGROUND: Carbonic acid accumulation, which results from CO2 insufflation, can produce visceral and referred pain in the postoperative setting. Acetazolamide inhibits carbonic anhydrase, an enzyme that accelerates carbonic acid formation. We hypothesized that preoperative administration of acetazolamide would decrease postoperative pain in patients undergoing laparoscopic inguinal herniorrhaphy. METHODS: A retrospective review was conducted of patients who underwent laparoscopic preperitoneal inguinal herniorrhaphy at the Medical College of Wisconsin between October 2012 and September 2014. Beginning in January 2014, patients began receiving 250 mg of acetazolamide preoperatively; patients prior to that time did not. The visual analog scale (range 0-10) was used to assess both preoperative pain and postoperative pain. RESULTS: A total of 66 patients underwent laparoscopic inguinal herniorrhaphy during the study interval. Of these, 22 (33 %) patients received acetazolamide preoperatively, and 44 (67 %) were included as controls. Overall mean pain scores were lower in the acetazolamide group (1.9 ± 1.45 vs 2.9 ± 1.5, p = 0.04). Specifically, patients who received acetazolamide reported lower pain scores immediately after surgery (0.6 ± 1.2 vs 1.9 ± 2.3, p = 0.01) and on post-op day one (2.3 ± 0.9 vs 4.0 ± 2.1, p = 0.04). Total morphine equivalents administered to manage postoperative pain were significantly less for the acetazolamide group (4.3 ± 4.8 mg) when compared to the control group (8.9 ± 8.4 mg), p = 0.04. Perioperative complications did not differ between the groups (p = 0.16). CONCLUSIONS: Acetazolamide appears to reduce pain in the immediate postoperative setting. Patients who received acetazolamide had lower pain scores postoperatively and required fewer narcotics for pain management prior to discharge.

Use and Safety of Per-Oral Endoscopic Myotomy for Achalasia in the US.

Importance: Several professional practice guidelines recommend per-oral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) as a potential first-line therapy for the management of achalasia, yet payers remain hesitant to reimburse for the procedure owing to unanswered questions regarding safety. Objective: To evaluate the use, safety, health care utilization, and costs associated with the use of POEM for treatment of achalasia relative to laparoscopic Heller myotomy (LHM) and pneumatic dilation (PD). Design, Setting, and Participants: This was a retrospective national cohort study of commercially insured patients, aged 18 to 63 years, who underwent index intervention for achalasia with either LHM, PD, or POEM in the US between July 1, 2010, and December 31, 2017. Patient data were obtained from a national commercial claims database. Included in the study were patients with at least 12 months of enrollment after index treatment and a minimum of 6 months of continuous enrollment before their index procedure. Patients 64 years or older were excluded to avoid underestimation of health care claims from enrollment in Medicare supplemental insurance. Data were analyzed from July 1, 2019, to July 1, 2021. Main Outcomes and Measures: Changes in the proportion of annual procedures performed for achalasia were evaluated over time. The frequency of severe procedure-related adverse events, including perforation, pneumothorax, bleeding, and death, were compared. Negative binomial regression was used to compare the incidence rates of subsequent diagnostic testing, reintervention, and unplanned hospitalization. Generalized linear models were used to compare differences in 1-year health-related expenditures across procedures. Results: This cohort study included a total of 1921 patients (median [IQR] age: LHM group, 48 [37-56] years; 737 men [51%]; PD group, 51 [41-58] years; 168 men [52%]; POEM group, 50 [40-57] years; 80 men [56%]). The use of POEM increased 19-fold over the study period, from 1.1% (95% CI, 0.2%-3.2%) of procedures in 2010 to 18.9% in 2017 (95% CI, 13.6%-25.3%; P = .01). Adverse events were rare and did not differ between procedures. Compared with LHM, POEM was associated with more subsequent diagnostic testing (incidence rate ratio [IRR], 2.2; 95% CI, 1.9-2.6) and reinterventions (IRR, 1.9; 95% CI, 1.1-3.3). When compared with PD, POEM was associated with more subsequent diagnostic testing (IRR, 1.5; 95% CI, 1.3-1.8) but fewer reinterventions (IRR, 0.4; 95% CI, 0.2-0.6). The total 1-year health care costs were similar between POEM and LHM, but significantly lower for PD (mean cost difference, $7674; 95% CI, $657-$14 692). Conclusions and Relevance: Results of this cohort study suggest that POEM was associated with higher health care utilization compared with LHM and lower subsequent health care utilization but higher costs compared with PD. The use of POEM is increasing rapidly; payers should recognize the totality of evidence and current treatment guidelines as they consider reimbursement for POEM. Patients should be informed of the trade-offs between approaches when considering treatment.

Gastrojejunostomy technique and anastomotic complications in laparoscopic gastric bypass.

BACKGROUND: Various surgical techniques exist to create the gastrojejunostomy during laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypasses (LRYGB). A hand-sewn anastomosis (HSA) and circular-stapled anastomosis (CSA) are both common techniques. We hypothesized that the CSA was associated with a greater incidence of anastomotic complications. As a secondary aim, we sought to determine if weight loss varied by technique. METHODS: This study is a retrospective review of patients who underwent primary LRYGB at the Medical College of Wisconsin from January 2010 to December 2011. Procedures were performed by one of 2 surgeons, each with a preferred gastrojejunostomy technique. Clinical information and patient outcomes were followed up to one year. RESULTS: A total of 190 patients underwent LRYGB during the study interval. The majority of patients underwent HSA. Forty-one of 190 (21.6%) patients experienced one or more complications. Most complications were Clavien Classification Grade III and were experienced within 30 days of surgery in 3 (2.2%) HSA patients and 6 (10.9%) CSA patients (P = .02). Anastomotic complications occurred more frequently with the CSA technique (marginal ulcer 5.5% CSA versus .7% HSA; P = .04 and stenosis 16.4% CSA versus 3% HSA; P = .01). There were no gastrojejunostomy leaks in this series. Operative time was significantly longer in HSA patients (204 minutes HSA versus 166 minutes CSA; P<.01), but length of hospital stay did not differ. Weight loss at 12 months was similar between techniques (69.4% percent excess BMI lost (EBMIL) HSA versus 76.6% EBMIL CSA; P = .11). No patients were lost to follow-up at 30 days. Thirty-five patients (19%) were lost to follow-up by one year. CONCLUSION: The CSA technique of gastrojejunostomy in gastric bypass is associated with a higher rate of nonlife threatening anastomotic complications than the HSA technique. Operative times are significantly longer for HSA, but length of hospital stay (LOS) and long-term weight loss are equivalent.

The relationship between duration of stay and readmissions in patients undergoing bariatric surgery.

BACKGROUND: Hospital readmissions are a quality indicator in bariatric surgery. In recent years, duration of stay after bariatric surgery has trended down greatly. We hypothesized that a shorter postoperative hospitalization does not increase the likelihood of readmission. METHODS: The University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC) is an alliance of academic medical centers and affiliated hospitals. The UHC's clinical database contains information on inpatient stay and returns (readmissions) up to 30 days after discharge. A multicenter analysis of outcomes was performed by the use of data from the January 2009 to December 2013 for patients 18 years and older. Patients were identified by bariatric procedure International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, codes and restricted by diagnosis codes for morbid obesity. RESULTS: A total of 95,294 patients met inclusion criteria. The mean patient age was 45.4 (±0.11) years, and 73,941 (77.6%) subjects were female. There were 5,423 (5.7%) readmissions within the study period. Patients with hospitalizations of 3 days and more than 3 days were twice and four times as likely to be readmitted than those with hospitalizations of one day, respectively (P < .001). CONCLUSION: Patients with longer postoperative hospitalizations were more likely to be readmitted after bariatric surgery. Early discharge does not appear to be associated with increased readmission rates.