Availability in ECMO Reduces the Failure to Rescue in Patients With Pulmonary Embolism After Major Surgery: A Nationwide Analysis of 2.4 Million Cases.

Objective: Postoperative pulmonary embolism (PE) is a rare but potentially life-threatening complication, which can be treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) therapy, a novel therapy option for acute cardiorespiratory failure. We postulate that hospitals with ECMO availability have more experienced staff, technical capabilities, and expertise in treating cardiorespiratory failure. Design: A retrospective analysis of surgical procedures in Germany between 2012 and 2019 was performed using hospital billing data. High-risk surgical procedures for postoperative PE were analyzed according to the availability of and expertise in ECMO therapy and its effect on outcome, regardless of whether ECMO was used in patients with PE. Methods: Descriptive, univariate, and multivariate analyses were applied to identify possible associations and correct for confounding factors (complications, complication management, and mortality). Results: A total of 13,976,606 surgical procedures were analyzed, of which 2,407,805 were defined as high-risk surgeries. The overall failure to rescue (FtR) rate was 24.4% and increased significantly with patient age, as well as type of surgery. The availability of and experience in ECMO therapy (defined as at least 20 ECMO applications per year; ECMO centers) are associated with a significantly reduced FtR in patients with PE after high-risk surgical procedures. In a multivariate analysis, the odds ratio (OR) for FtR after postoperative PE was significantly lower in ECMO centers (OR, 0.75 [0.70-0.81], P < 0.001). Conclusions: The availability of and expertise in ECMO therapy lead to a significantly reduced FtR rate of postoperative PE. This improved outcome is independent of the use of ECMO in these patients.

The impact of surgical timing on outcome in acute appendicitis in adults - a retrospective observational Population-Based cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Acute appendicitis is a global disease with high incidence. The main objective was to assess the association between time from admission to surgery (TAS) and surgery during emergency hours with operative outcome in light of conflicting evidence. METHODS: This is a retrospective population-wide analysis of hospital billing data (2010-2021) of all adult patient records of surgically treated cases of acute appendicitis in Germany by TAS. The primary outcome was a composite clinical endpoint (CCE; prolonged length of stay, surgical site infection, interventional draining after surgery, revision surgery, intensive care unit admission and/or in-hospital mortality). Cases of complicated appendicitis were identified using diagnosis (ICD-10) and procedural codes (resection beyond appendectomy). RESULTS: 855,694 patient records were included, of which 27·6% (236,481) were complicated cases of acute appendicitis. 49·0% (418,821) were females and median age was 37 (interquartile range 22·5-51·5). Age, male sex, and comorbidity were associated with an increased proportion of CCE and in-hospital mortality. TAS was associated with a clinically relevant increase of CCE after 12 hours in complicated appendicitis (Odd's Ratio, OR, 1·19, 95% Confidence Interval, CI, 1·14-1·21) and after 24 hours in uncomplicated appendicitis (OR 1·10, CI 1·02-1·19). Beyond the primary endpoint, the proportion of complicated appendicitis increased after TAS of 72 hours. Surgery during emergency hours (6 pm - 6.59 am) was associated with an increase of CCE and mortality (OR between 1·14 and 1·49). Age, female sex, nighttime admission, weekend admission, a known previous surgery, obesity, and therapeutic anticoagulation were associated with delayed performance of surgery. CONCLUSION: This work found an increase of a CCE after TAS of 12 hours for complicated appendicitis and an increase of the CCE after TAS of 24 hours for uncomplicated appendicitis with a stable proportion of complicated appendicitis in these time windows. Both CCE and mortality were increased if appendectomy was performed during emergency hours.

Diverticulitis patient care during the Covid-19 pandemic in Germany-a retrospective nationwide population-based cohort study.

PURPOSE: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) impacted health care systems around the world. Despite a decrease in emergency admissions, an increased number of complicated forms of diverticulitis was reported. It was the aim of this study to analyze the pandemic impact on diverticulitis management in Germany. METHODS: This is a retrospective population-wide analysis of hospital billing data (2012-2021) of diverticulitis in Germany. Patients were identified based on diagnosis (ICD10) and procedural codes to stratify by conservative and operative management. Primary outcome of interest was admission rates, secondary outcomes were rates of surgical vs conservative treatment and fraction of complicated clinical courses during the pandemic. RESULTS: Of a total of 991,579 cases, 66,424 (6.7%) were admitted during pandemic lockdowns. Conservative treatment was the most common overall (66.9%) and higher during lockdowns (70.7%). Overall admissions and population adjusted rates of surgically treated patients decreased, the latter by 12.7% and 11.3%, corrected to estimated rates, in the two lockdowns. Surgery after emergency presentation decreased by 7.1% (p=0.053) and 11.1% (p=0.002) in the two lockdowns with a higher rate of ostomy and/or revision (+5.6%, p=0.219, and +10.2%, p=0.030). In-hospital mortality was increased in lockdown periods (1.64% vs 1.49%). In detail, mortality was identical in case of conservative treatment during lockdown periods (0.5%) but was higher in surgically treated patients (4.4% vs 3.6%). CONCLUSION: During lockdowns, there was an overall decrease of admissions for diverticulitis, especially non-emergency admissions in Germany, and treatment was more likely to be conservative. In case of surgery, however, there was increased risk of a complicated course (ostomy, re-surgery), possibly due to patient selection.

Nationwide volume-outcome relationship concerning in-hospital mortality and failure-to-rescue in surgery of sigmoid diverticulitis.

PURPOSE: A correlation between the hospital volume and outcome is described for multiple entities of oncological surgery. To date, this has not been analyzed for the surgical treatment of sigmoid diverticulitis. The aim of this study was to explore the impact of the annual caseload per hospital of colon resection on the postoperative incidence of complications, failure to rescue, and mortality in patients with diverticulitis. METHODS: Patients receiving colorectal resection independent from the diagnosis from 2012 to 2017 were selected from a German nationwide administrative dataset. The hospitals were grouped into five equal caseload quintiles (Q1-Q5 in ascending caseload order). The outcome analysis was focused on patients receiving surgery for sigmoid diverticulitis. RESULTS: In total, 662,706 left-sided colon resections were recorded between 2012 and 2017. Of these, 156,462 resections were performed due to sigmoid diverticulitis and were included in the analysis. The overall in-house mortality rate was 3.5%, ranging from 3.8% in Q1 (mean of 9.5 procedures per year) to 3.1% in Q5 (mean 62.8 procedures per year; p < 0.001). Q5 hospitals revealed a risk-adjusted odds ratio of 0.85 (95% CI 0.78-0.94; p < 0.001) for in-hospital mortality compared to Q1 during multivariable logistic regression analysis. High-volume centers showed overall lower complication rates, whereas the failure-to-rescue did not differ significantly. CONCLUSION: Surgical treatment of sigmoid diverticulitis in high-volume colorectal centers shows lower postoperative mortality rates and fewer postoperative complications.

Impact of Surgical Postponements due to Covid-19 on Weight and Metabolic Parameters in Bariatric Surgery in Germany: Monocentric Experiences and Considerations in a National Context.

BACKGROUND: Due to Covid-19, elective medical procedures were partly postponed to reduce the burden on the medical system. The impact of these effects in bariatric surgery and their individual consequences remain unknown. MATERIALS/METHODS: In a retrospective monocentric analysis, all bariatric patients at our centre between 01/2020 and 12/2021 were investigated. All patients with postponed surgery due to pandemic were analysed regarding weight change and metabolic parameters. In addition, we performed a nationwide cohort study of all bariatric patients in 2020 using billing data provided by the Federal Statistical Office. Population adjusted procedure rates of 2020 were compared to 2018/2019. RESULTS: Seventy-four patients (42.5%) out of 174 scheduled for bariatric surgery were postponed due to pandemic-related limitations, and 47 (63.5%) patients waited longer than 3 months. Mean postponement was 147.7 days. Apart from outliers (6.8% of all patients), mean weight (+0.9 kg) and body mass index (+0.3 kg/m2) remained stable. HbA1c increased significantly in patients with a postponement longer than 6 months (p = 0.024) and in diabetic patients (+0.18% vs -0.11 in non-diabetic, p = 0.042). In the Germany-wide cohort, the overall reduction of bariatric procedures in the first lockdown (04-06/2020) was -13.4% (p = 0.589). In the second lockdown (10-12/2020), there was no nationwide detectable reduction (+3.5%, p = 0.843) but inter-state differences. There was a catch-up in the interim months (+24.9%, p = 0.002). CONCLUSION: For future lockdowns or other healthcare bottleneck circumstances, the impact of postponement in bariatric patients has to be addressed and prioritization of vulnerable patients (e.g. diabetics) should be considered.

Impact of the COVID pandemic on major abdominal cancer resections in Germany: a retrospective population-based cohort study.

BACKGROUND: The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic is estimated to have claimed more than 6 million lives globally since it started in 2019. Germany was exposed to two waves of coronavirus disease 2019 in 2020, one starting in April and the other in October. To ensure sufficient capacity for coronavirus disease 2019 patients in intensive care units, elective medical procedures were postponed. The fraction of major abdominal cancer resections affected by these measures remains unknown, and the most affected patient cohort has yet to be identified. METHODS: This is a register-based, retrospective, nationwide cohort study of anonymized 'diagnosis-related group' billing data provided by the Federal Statistical Office in Germany. Cases were identified using diagnostic and procedural codes for major cancer resections. Population-adjusted cancer resection rates as the primary endpoint were compared at baseline (2012-2019) to those in 2020. RESULTS: A change in resection rates for all analyzed entities (esophageal, gastric, liver, pancreatic, colon, rectum, and lung cancer) was observed from baseline to 2020. Total monthly oncological resections dropped by 7.4% (8.7% normalized to the annual German population, P =0.011). Changes ranged from +3.7% for pancreatic resections ( P =0.277) to -19.4% for rectal resections ( P <0.001). Reductions were higher during lockdown periods. During the first lockdown period (April-June), the overall drop was 14.3% (8.58 per 100 000 vs. 7.35 per 100 000, P <0.001). There was no catch-up effect during the summer months except for pancreatic cancer resections. In the second lockdown period, there was an overall drop of 17.3%. In subgroup analyses, the elderly were most affected by the reduction in resection rates. There was a significant negative correlation between regional SARS-CoV-2 incidences and resections rates. This correlation was strongest for rectal cancer resections (Spearman's r : -0.425, P <0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The pandemic lockdowns had a major impact on the oncological surgical caseload in Germany in 2020. The elderly were most affected by the reduction. There was a clear correlation between SARS-CoV-2 incidences regionally and the reduction of surgical resection rates. In future pandemic circumstances, oncological surgery has to be prioritized with an extra focus on the most vulnerable patients.

Volume-outcome relationship in adrenal surgery from 2009-2017 in Germany-a retrospective study.

OBJECTIVE: Adrenal resections are rare procedures of a heterogeneous nature. While recent European guidelines advocate a minimum annual caseload for adrenalectomies (6 per surgeon), evidence for a volume-outcome relationship for this surgery remains limited. DESIGN: A retrospective analysis of all adrenal resections in Germany between 2009 and 2017 using hospital billing data was performed. Hospitals were grouped into three tertiles of approximately equal patient volume. METHODS: Descriptive, univariate, and multivariate analyses were applied to identify a possible volume-outcome relationship (complications, complication management, and mortality). RESULTS: Around 17 040 primary adrenal resections were included. Benign adrenal tumors (n = 8,213, 48.2%) and adrenal metastases of extra-adrenal malignancies (n = 3582, 21.0%) were the most common diagnoses. Six hundred and thirty-two low-volume hospitals performed an equal number of resections as 23 high-volume hospitals (median surgeries/hospital/year 3 versus 31, P < .001). Complications were less frequent in high-volume hospitals (23.1% in low-volume hospitals versus 17.3% in high-volume hospitals, P < .001). The most common complication was bleeding in 2027 cases (11.9%) with a mortality of 4.6% (94 patients). Overall in-house mortality was 0.7% (n = 126). Age, malignancy, an accompanying resection, complications, and open surgery were associated with in-house mortality. In univariate analysis, surgery in high-volume hospitals was associated with lower mortality (OR: 0.47, P < .001). In a multivariate model, the tendency remained equal (OR: 0.59, P = .104). Regarding failure to rescue (death in case of complications), there was a trend toward lower mortality in high-volume hospitals. CONCLUSIONS: The annual caseload of adrenal resections varies considerably among German hospitals. Our findings suggest that surgery in high-volume centers is advantageous for patient outcomes although fatal complications are rare.

Disproportionately high failure to rescue rates after resection for colorectal cancer in the geriatric patient population - A nationwide study.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer incidence increases with patient age. The aim of this study was to assess, at the nationwide level, in-hospital mortality, and failure to rescue in geriatric patients (≥ 80 years old) with colorectal cancer arising from postoperative complications. METHODS: All patients receiving surgery for colorectal cancer in Germany between 2012 and 2018 were identified in a nationwide database. Association between age and in-hospital mortality following surgery and failure to rescue, defined as death after complication, were determined in univariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS: Three lakh twenty-eight thousands two hundred and ninety patients with colorectal cancer were included of whom 77,287 were 80 years or older. With increasing age, a significant relative increase in right hemicolectomy was observed. In general, these patients had more comorbid conditions and higher frailty. In-hospital mortality following colorectal cancer surgery was 4.9% but geriatric patients displayed a significantly higher postoperative in-hospital mortality of 10.6%. The overall postoperative complication rate as well as failure to rescue increased with age. In contrast, surgical site infection (SSI) and anastomotic leakage (AL) did not increase in geriatric patients, whereas the associated mortality increased disproportionately (13.3% for SSI and 29.9% mortality for patients with AI, both p < 0.001). Logistic regression analysis adjusting for confounders showed that geriatric patients had almost five-times higher odds for death after surgery than the baseline age group below 60 (OR 4.86; 95%CI [4.45-5.53], p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Geriatric patients have higher mortality after colorectal cancer surgery. This may be partly due to higher frailty and disproportionately higher rates of failure to rescue arising from postoperative complications.

Population-Based Analysis of Sex-Dependent Risk Factors for Mortality in Thoracic Surgery for Lung Cancer.

OBJECTIVE: Sex is an important predictor for lung cancer survival and a favorable prognostic indicator for women compared to men. Specific surgery-related sex differences of patients with lung cancer remain unclear. The aim of this study is to analyze sex-specific differences after lung cancer resections to identify factors for an unfavorable prognosis. METHODS: This is a retrospective analysis of a German nationwide discharge register of every adult inpatient undergoing pulmonary resection for lung cancer from 2014 until 2017. DRG data and OPS procedures were analyzed with the help of the Federal Statistical Office using remote controlled data. A multivariable regression model was established in a stepwise process to evaluate the effect of sex on inpatient mortality. RESULTS: A total of 38,806 patients underwent surgical resection for lung cancer between January 2014 and December 2017 in Germany. Women were significantly younger at admission than men (mean 64.7 years [SD 10.1] vs. 66.6 years [SD 9.5]; p < 0.0001). They had fewer unreferred admissions (risk ratio 0.83 [0.77, 0.90], p < 0.0001) and were significantly less likely to have recorded comorbidities. Raw in-hospital mortality was 1.8% for women and 4.1% for men. In the multivariable analysis of in-hospital mortality, the likelihood of death for women compared to men was 21% reduced (OR 0.79 [CI: 0.66, 0.93, p = 0.005]). The risk of postoperative complications such as ventilation >48 h, ARDS, tracheotomy, or pneumonia was significantly lower for women. CONCLUSIONS: Women undergoing lung cancer surgery were younger and had less comorbidities than men in Germany. Female sex was associated with lower mortality and less postoperative complications.

Risk-Adjusted Mortality Rates as a Quality Proxy Outperform Volume in Surgical Oncology-A New Perspective on Hospital Centralization Using National Population-Based Data.

PURPOSE: Despite a long-known association between annual hospital volume and outcome, little progress has been made in shifting high-risk surgery to safer hospitals. This study investigates whether the risk-standardized mortality rate (RSMR) could serve as a stronger proxy for surgical quality than volume. METHODS: We included all patients who underwent complex oncologic surgeries in Germany between 2010 and 2018 for any of five major cancer types, splitting the data into training (2010-2015) and validation sets (2016-2018). For each surgical group, we calculated annual volume and RSMR quintiles in the training set and applied these thresholds to the validation set. We studied the overlap between the two systems, modeled a market exit of low-performing hospitals, and compared effectiveness and efficiency of volume- and RSMR-based rankings. We compared travel distance or time that would be required to reallocate patients to the nearest hospital with low-mortality ranking for the specific procedure. RESULTS: Between 2016 and 2018, 158,079 patients were treated in 974 hospitals. At least 50% of high-volume hospitals were not ranked in the low-mortality group according to RSMR grouping. In an RSMR centralization model, an average of 32 patients undergoing complex oncologic surgery would need to relocate to a low-mortality hospital to save one life, whereas 47 would need to relocate to a high-volume hospital. Mean difference in travel times between the nearest hospital to the hospital that performed surgery ranged from 10 minutes for colorectal cancer to 24 minutes for pancreatic cancer. Centralization on the basis of RSMR compared with volume would ensure lower median travel times for all cancer types, and these times would be lower than those observed. CONCLUSION: RSMR is a promising proxy for measuring surgical quality. It outperforms volume in effectiveness, efficiency, and hospital availability for patients.

Mortality, complications and failure to rescue after surgery for esophageal, gastric, pancreatic and liver cancer patients based on minimum caseloads set by the German Cancer Society.

BACKGROUND: The German Cancer Society (DKG) board certifies hospitals in treating esophageal, gastric, liver and pancreatic cancer among others. There has been no systematic verification of the number of major surgical resections set by DKG certification with regards to in-house mortality and failure to rescue (FtR). METHODS: This is a retrospective analysis of anonymized nationwide hospital billing data (DRG data, 2009-2017). Inclusion criteria were based on the annual surgical minimum caseload (SMC) in accordance with DKG certification. RESULTS: 171,429 datasets were identified, including 31,140 esophageal, 54,155 gastric, 57,343 pancreatic and 28,791 liver resections. In-house mortality ranged from 6.2% for gastric resections to 8.1% for pancreatic resections. Differences in in-house mortality between hospitals which fulfilled SMC on average and those which did not fulfill SMC on average were 40.8% (5.3% vs 8.2%) for esophageal, 32.3% (4.8% vs 6.8%) for gastric and 45.7% (6.1% vs 9.8%) for pancreatic resections, while it was 8.2% higher in SMC-hospitals (7.6% vs 7.0%) for liver resections. Complication occurrence rates for esophageal, gastric and pancreatic resections were similar in SMC- and non-SMC-hospitals while FtR in hospitals fulfilling SMC was significantly lower. Data for liver resections demonstrated the same trends only in a sub-analysis of complex procedures. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates an association between caseload threshold defined by DKG and lower mortality in esophageal, gastric, pancreatic and complex liver surgery. In these resections, FtR was reduced if SMC was fulfilled.

Safety of anastomoses in colorectal cancer surgery in octogenarians: a prospective cohort study with propensity score matching.

BACKGROUND: Up to 20 per cent of all operations for patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) are performed in octogenarians. Anastomotic leakage is a leading cause of morbidity and death after resection for CRC. The aim of this study was to assess the rate of anastomosis creation, the risk of anastomotic leakage and death in surgery for left-sided CRC in elderly patients. METHODS: This prospective cohort study compared patients less than 80 and 80 or more years with left-sided CRC resection performed between 2013 and 2019. Data were provided from a risk-adjusted surgical quality-assessment system with 219 participating centres in Germany. Outcome measures were the rate of anastomoses, anastomotic leakages, death at 30 days and 2-year overall survival (OS). Propensity score matching was used to control for selection bias and compare subgroups of patients of less than 80 and 80 or more years. RESULTS: Out of 18 959 patients, some 3169 (16.7 per cent) were octogenarians. Octogenarians were less likely to receive anastomoses (82.0 versus 92.9 per cent, P < 0.001; odds ratio 0.50 (95 per cent c.i. 0.44 to 0.58), P < 0.001). The rate of anastomotic leakages did not differ between age groups (8.6 versus 9.7 per cent, P = 0.084), but 30-day mortality rate after leakage was significantly higher in octogenarians (15.8 versus 3.5 per cent, P < 0.001). Overall, anastomotic leakage was the strongest predictor for death (odds ratio 4.95 (95 per cent c.i. 3.66 to 6.66), P < 0.001). In the subgroup with no leakage, octogenarians had a lower 2-year OS rate than younger patients (71 versus 87 per cent, P < 0.001), and in the population with anastomotic leakage, the 2-year OS was 80 per cent in younger and 43 per cent in elderly patients (P < 0.001). After propensity score matching, older age remained predictive for not receiving an anastomosis (odds ratio 0.54 (95 per cent c.i. 0.46 to 0.63), P < 0.001) and for death (odds ratio 2.60 (95 per cent c.i. 1.78 to 3.84), P < 0.001), but not for the occurrence of leakages (odds ratio 0.94 (95 per cent c.i. 0.76 to 1.15), P = 0.524). CONCLUSION: Anastomotic leakage is not more common in octogenarians, but an age of 80 years or older is an independent factor for not receiving an anastomosis in surgery for left-sided CRC. The mortality rate in the case of leakage in octogenarians was reported to exceed 15 per cent.

Brain Metastases from Colorectal Cancer: A Systematic Review of the Literature and Meta-Analysis to Establish a Guideline for Daily Treatment.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common malignancy worldwide. Most patients with metastatic CRC develop liver or lung metastases, while a minority suffer from brain metastases. There is little information available regarding the presentation, treatment, and overall survival of brain metastases (BM) from CRC. This systematic review and meta-analysis includes data collected from three major databases (PubMed, Cochrane, and Embase) based on the key words "brain", "metastas*", "tumor", "colorectal", "cancer", and "malignancy". In total, 1318 articles were identified in the search and 86 studies matched the inclusion criteria. The incidence of BM varied between 0.1% and 11.5%. Most patients developed metastases at other sites prior to developing BM. Lung metastases and KRAS mutations were described as risk factors for additional BM. Patients with BM suffered from various symptoms, but up to 96.8% of BM patients were asymptomatic at the time of BM diagnosis. Median survival time ranged from 2 to 9.6 months, and overall survival (OS) increased up to 41.1 months in patients on a multimodal therapy regimen. Several factors including age, blood levels of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), multiple metastases sites, number of brain lesions, and presence of the KRAS mutation were predictors of OS. For BM diagnosis, MRI was considered to be state of the art. Treatment consisted of a combination of surgery, radiation, or systemic treatment.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on appendicitis treatment in Germany-a population-based analysis.

PURPOSE: Acute appendicitis is one of the most common reasons for emergency medical consultation. While simple appendicitis can be treated with antibiotics or surgery, complex appendicitis including gangrene, abscess, and perforation requires appendectomy. During the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, an overall drop in emergency room consultations was observed. We therefore aimed to investigate the incidence and treatment strategies of acute appendicitis during that period. METHODS: Data of insurance holders with the ICD code for "acute appendicitis" or OPS procedure of appendectomy of a major health insurance company in Germany were analyzed retrospectively. Groups were built, containing of the means of March-June of 2017, 2018, and 2019, defined as "pre-COVID group" with the "COVID group," defined as data from March to June of 2020. Data was analyzed by age, sex, comorbidities, length of hospital stay, diagnoses, and treatment. Data of the COVID group was analyzed for simultaneous COVID-19 infection. RESULTS: During the COVID-19 pandemic of early 2020, an overall reduction by 12.9% of patients presenting with acute appendicitis was noticeable. These results were mainly due to decreased rates of uncomplicated appendicitis, while complicated appendicitis was scarcely affected. Especially in the group of females < 40 years, a drastic reduction was visible. Rates of extended surgery did not change. Likewise, the complication rate like appendix stump leakage or need for re-operation did not differ. In March 2020, 4.8% of acute appendicitis patients had concomitant COVID-19 infection. CONCLUSION: In line with the overall drop of emergency room visits during the COVID-19 pandemic of spring 2020 in Germany, a significantly lowered number of patients with uncomplicated appendicitis were noticeable, whereas complicated appendicitis did not differ. Also, treatment and complication rate of acute appendicitis did not change. These findings might be a hint that acute appendicitis is not a progressing disease but caused by different entities for uncomplicated and complicated appendicitis and therefore another clue that uncomplicated appendicitis can be treated with antibiotics or observation. Nevertheless provided data does not cover outpatient treatment; therefore, no statement observation or antibiotics in outpatients can be made.

Systematic review and meta-analysis on volume-outcome relationship of abdominal surgical procedures in Germany.

BACKGROUND: In the past, for a number of abdominal surgical interventions a correlation between treatment volume of a hospital and the patient's outcome was shown in national and international studies. METHODS: Based on a systematic literature search we analyzed the absolute and risk-adjusted in-house lethality as well as the rate of complications and the failure to rescue after abdominal surgery in Germany. The hospitals were grouped in quintiles according to the volume of treatment. RESULTS: 11 studies including more than 2 million patients were identified and surgeries for the treatment of 9 disease conditions were studied. The meta-analysis shows a significantly lower absolute and risk-adjusted in-house mortality for surgery in hospitals with high treatment volumes compared to low volume hospitals. In the context of subgroup analysis, this effect is demonstrated especially for complex surgical procedures. The failure to rescue in patients suffering from sepsis is significantly lower in high volume centers compared to low volume centers. CONCLUSION: This systematic review and meta-analysis shows on more than 2 million patients that there is a volume-outcome relationship for the surgical treatment of abdominal diseases in Germany across various organ systems, which is particularly true for complex interventions.

Mortality and complication management after surgery for colorectal cancer depending on the DKG minimum amounts for hospital volume.

BACKGROUND: The German Cancer Society ("Deutsche Krebsgesellschaft"; DKG) certifies on a volunteer base colorectal cancer centers based on, among other things, minimum operative amounts (at least 30 oncological colon cancer resections and 20 oncological rectal cancer resections per year). In this work, nationwide hospital mortality and death after documented complications ('Failure to Rescue' = FtR) were evaluated depending on the fulfillment of the minimum amounts. METHODS: This is a retrospective analysis of the nationwide hospital billing data (DRG data, 2012-2017). Categorization is based on the DKG minimum quantities (fully, partially or not fulfilled). RESULTS: Of 287,227 patients analyzed, 56.5% were operated in centers that met the DKG minimum amounts. The overall hospital mortality rate was 5.0%. In centers which met the minimum quantities, it was significantly lower (4.3%) than in hospitals which partially (5.7%) or not (6.2%) met the minimum quantities. The risk-adjusted hospital mortality rate for patients in hospitals who meet the minimum amount was 20% lower (OR 0.80; 95% CI [0.74-0.87], p < 0.001). For complications, both surgical and non-surgical, there was an unadjusted and adjusted lower FtR in hospitals that met the minimum amounts (e.g. anastomotic leak: 11.2% vs. 15.6%, p < 0.001; pulmonary artery embolism 21.3% vs. 28.2%, p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: There is a 1/3 lower mortality and FtR rate after surgery for a colon or rectal cancer in centers fulfilling the DKG minimum amounts. The presented data implicate that there is an urgent need for a nationwide centralization program.