A Population-Based Study of 90-Day Hospital Cost and Utilization Associated With Robotic Surgery in Colon and Rectal Cancer.

BACKGROUND: The role of robotic surgery in colorectal cancer remains contentious with most data arising from small, single-institution studies. METHODS: Stage I-III colorectal cancer resections from 2008 to 2014 were identified in New York State. Propensity score-adjusted negative binomial models were used to compare cost and utilization between robotic, laparoscopic, and open resections. RESULTS: A total of 12,218 patients were identified. For colectomy, the robotic-to-open conversion rate was 3%, and the laparoscopic-to-open conversion rate was 13%. For rectal resection, the robotic-to-open conversion rate was 7% and the laparoscopic-to-open conversion rate was 32%. In intention-to-treat analysis, there was no significant difference in cost across the surgical approaches, both in overall and stratified analyses. Both laparoscopic and robotic approaches were associated with decreased 90-d hospital utilization compared with open surgery in intention-to-treat analyses. CONCLUSIONS: Robotic and laparoscopic colorectal cancer resections were not associated with a hospital cost benefit after 90 d compared with open but were associated with decreased hospital utilization. Conversion to open resection was common, and efforts should be made to prevent them. Future research should continue to measure how robotic and laparoscopic approaches can add value to the health care system.

Postoperative Mortality After Nonelective Surgery for Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients in the Era of Biologics.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to analyze recent trends in the rate of nonelective surgery and corresponding mortality for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients since the rise of biologic use. BACKGROUND: Modern biologic therapy has improved outcomes for IBD, but little is known about the impact on mortality rates after nonelective surgery. METHODS: New York's Statewide Planning & Research Cooperative System was queried for hospital admissions for ulcerative colitis (UC) with concurrent colectomy and Crohn disease (CD) with concurrent small bowel resection or colectomy from 2000 to 2013. Mixed-effects analyses assessed patient, surgeon, and hospital-level factors and hospital-level variation associated with 30-day mortality after nonelective surgery. RESULTS: Between 2000 to 2006 and 2007 to 2013, the number of unscheduled IBD-related admissions increased by 50% for UC and 41% for CD, but no change in the proportion of nonelective surgery cases was observed (UC=38% vs 38%; CD=45% vs 42%) among 15,837 intestinal resections (UC=5,297; CD=10,540). Nonelective surgery mortality rates between 2000 to 2006 and 2007 to 2013 were high and increased for UC (10.2% vs 15%) but decreased for CD (3.3% vs 2.2%). Nonelective surgery in 2007 to 2013 was associated with an 82% increased risk of 30-day mortality in UC cases (odds ratio: 1.82; confidence interval: 1.19-2.62). After controlling for patient-level factors, large hospital-level variation was observed with 23-fold difference in mortality for both UC and CD. CONCLUSIONS: Although nonelective IBD surgery rates have remained stable, associated 30-day mortality for UC has doubled in recent years despite advances in medical management. Current clinical decision-making and care pathways must be further evaluated to improve outcomes in this high-risk population.

Patterns and Yearly Time Trends in the Use of Radiation Therapy During the Last 30 Days of Life Among Patients With Metastatic Rectal Cancer in the United States From 2004 to 2012.

PURPOSE: Although radiation therapy (RT) can provide palliative benefits for patients with metastatic rectal cancer, its role at the end of life remains unclear. The objective of this study was to assess sociodemographic and clinical factors associated with the use of RT during the last 30 days of life and to evaluate yearly time trends in RT utilization among stage IV patients with rectal cancer. METHODS: The 2004 to 2012 National Cancer DataBase was queried for patients with metastatic rectal cancer who had a documented death during follow-up. A Bayesian multilevel logistic regression model was used to characterize predictive factors and yearly time trends associated with RT use in the last 30 days of life. RESULTS: Among 10 431 patients who met inclusion criteria, 345 (3%) received RT during the last 30 days of life. Factors independently associated with RT use included older age, female sex, African American race, nonprivate insurance, higher comorbidity burden, and worse grade. The odds of RT use at the end of life decreased by 28% between 2007 and 2009 (odds ratio [OR] = 0.72, 95% Credible Interval (CI) = 0.58-0.93), but then increased by 16% from 2010 to 2012 (OR = 1.16, 95% CI = 1.13-1.33), relative to 2004 to 2006. CONCLUSION: Radiation therapy use for patients with metastatic rectal cancer is beneficial, and efforts to optimize its appropriate use are important. Several factors associated with RT use during the last 30 days of life included disparities in sociodemographic and clinical subgroups. Research is needed to understand the underlying causes of these inequalities and the role of predictive models in clinical decision-making.

Trends in Surgeon-Level Utilization of Sacral Nerve Stimulator Implantation for Fecal Incontinence in New York State.

BACKGROUND: There is a paucity of real-world data regarding surgeon utilization of sacral nerve stimulation for fecal incontinence compared with anal sphincteroplasty. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to examine trends in sacral nerve stimulation use compared with sphincteroplasty for fecal incontinence and surgeon-level variation in progression to implantation of the pulse generator. DESIGN: This is a population-based study. PATIENTS: Patients with fecal incontinence between 2011 and 2014 in New York who underwent stage 1 of the sacral nerve stimulation procedure were selected. For the comparison with sphincteroplasty, patients with fecal incontinence who underwent anal sphincteroplasty between 2008 and 2014 were included. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The main outcomes after sacral nerve stimulation generator placement were unplanned 30-day admission, emergency department visit within 30 days, revision or explant of leads or generator, and 30-day mortality. RESULTS: Six hundred twenty-one patients with fecal incontinence underwent a stage 1 procedure with 79.7% progressing to stage 2. There has been an increase in the number of sacral nerve stimulation cases per year as well as the number of surgeons performing the procedure. The rate of progression to stage 2 among patients treated by colorectal surgeons was 80.2% compared with 77.0% among those treated by noncolorectal surgeons. Among those who completed stage 2, there were 3 (0.5%) unplanned 30-day admissions, 24 (4.4%) emergency department visits within 30 days, and 0 mortalities within 30 days. Thirty-two (6.5%) patients had their leads or pulse generator revised or explanted. There was a significant decrease in annual sphincteroplasty cases and the number of providers performing the procedure starting in 2011. LIMITATIONS: We lacked data regarding patient and physician decision making and the severity of disease. CONCLUSIONS: Sacral nerve stimulation for fecal incontinence is increasing in popularity with an increasing number of surgeons utilizing sacral nerve stimulation for fecal incontinence rather than sphincteroplasty. See Video Abstract at http://links.lww.com/DCR/A450.

Is the Distance Worth It? Patients With Rectal Cancer Traveling to High-Volume Centers Experience Improved Outcomes.

BACKGROUND: It is unclear whether traveling long distances to high-volume centers would compensate for travel burden among patients undergoing rectal cancer resection. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine whether operative volume outweighs the advantages of being treated locally by comparing the outcomes of patients with rectal cancer treated at local, low-volume centers versus far, high-volume centers. DESIGN: This was a population-based study. SETTINGS: The National Cancer Database was queried for patients with rectal cancer. PATIENTS: Patients with stage II or III rectal cancer who underwent surgical resection between 2006 and 2012 were included. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The outcomes of interest were margins, lymph node yield, receipt of neoadjuvant chemoradiation, adjuvant chemotherapy, readmission within 30 days, 30-day and 90-day mortality, and 5-year overall survival. RESULTS: A total of 18,605 patients met inclusion criteria; 2067 patients were in the long-distance/high-volume group and 1362 in the short-distance/low-volume group. The median travel distance was 62.6 miles for the long-distance/high-volume group and 2.3 miles for the short-distance/low-volume group. Patients who were younger, white, privately insured, and stage III were more likely to have traveled to a high-volume center. When controlled for patient factors, stage, and hospital factors, patients in the short-distance/low-volume group had lower odds of a lymph node yield ≥12 (OR = 0.51) and neoadjuvant chemoradiation (OR = 0.67) and higher 30-day (OR = 3.38) and 90-day mortality (OR = 2.07) compared with those in the long-distance/high-volume group. The short-distance/low-volume group had a 34% high risk of overall mortality at 5 years compared with the long-distance/high-volume group. LIMITATIONS: We lacked data regarding patient and physician decision making and surgeon-specific factors. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that when controlled for patient, tumor, and hospital factors, patients who traveled a long distance to a high-volume center had improved lymph node yield, neoadjuvant chemoradiation receipt, and 30- and 90-day mortality compared with those who traveled a short distance to a low-volume center. They also had improved 5-year survival. See Video Abstract at http://links.lww.com/DCR/A446.

Long-term Deleterious Impact of Surgeon Care Fragmentation After Colorectal Surgery on Survival: Continuity of Care Continues to Count.

BACKGROUND: Surgical care fragmentation at readmission impacts short-term outcomes. However, the long-term impact of surgical care fragmentation is unknown. OBJECTIVE: The purpose was to evaluate the impact of surgical care fragmentation, encompassing both surgeon and hospital care, at readmission after colorectal surgery on 1-year survival. DESIGN: This was a retrospective cohort study. SETTING: The study included patients undergoing colorectal resection in New York State from 2004 to 2014. PATIENTS: Included were 20,016 patients undergoing colorectal resection who were readmitted within 30 days of discharge and categorized by source-of-care fragmentation. Each readmission was classified by the source of fragmentation: readmission to the index hospital and managed by another provider, readmission to another hospital by the index surgeon, and readmission to another hospital by another provider. Patients readmitted to the index hospital and managed by the index surgeon served as controls. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: One-year overall survival and 1-year colorectal cancer-specific survival were the outcomes measured. RESULTS: After propensity adjustment, surgeon care fragmentation was independently associated with decreased survival. In comparison with patients without surgical care fragmentation (patients readmitted to the index hospital and managed by the index surgeon), patients readmitted to the index hospital and managed by another provider had over a 2-fold risk (HR, 2.33; 95% CI, 2.10-2.60) and patients readmitted to another hospital by another provider had almost a 2-fold risk (HR, 1.91; 95% CI, 1.63-2.25) of 1-year mortality. Among 9545 patients with a colorectal cancer diagnosis, surgical care fragmentation was once again associated with decreased survival with patients readmitted to the index hospital and managed by another provider having a HR of 2.12 (95% CI, 1.76-2.56) and patients readmitted to another hospital by another provider having a HR of 1.57 (95% CI, 1.17-2.11) compared with patients readmitted to the index hospital and managed by the index surgeon. LIMITATIONS: Limitations include possible miscoding of data, retrospective design, and selection bias. CONCLUSIONS: After accounting for patient, index hospital, index surgeon, and readmission factors, there is a significant 2-fold decrease in survival associated with surgeon care fragmentation regardless of hospital continuity. See Video Abstract at http://links.lww.com/DCR/A431.

Variation in Delayed Time to Adjuvant Chemotherapy and Disease-Specific Survival in Stage III Colon Cancer Patients.

BACKGROUND: There is a paucity of literature quantifying the extent to which time to adjuvant chemotherapy for stage III colon cancer patients varies between individual surgeons, medical oncologists, and hospitals. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted by merging the New York State Cancer Registry with the Statewide Planning & Research Cooperative System and Medicare claims to identify stage III colon cancer patients from 2004 to 2009 who underwent resection and received adjuvant chemotherapy. Multilevel logistic regression models characterized variation in delayed time to adjuvant chemotherapy (>8 weeks vs. ≤8 weeks). Multilevel competing-risks Cox proportional hazards models assessed the effect of delayed time to adjuvant chemotherapy on disease-specific survival. RESULTS: The proportion of delayed time to adjuvant chemotherapy was 36 % in 1133 patients treated by 516 surgeons and 351 medical oncologists at 163 hospitals. After controlling for case-mix, the majority of the clustering variation (72 %) in delayed time to adjuvant chemotherapy is attributed to differences between medical oncologists. Risk-adjusted surgeon-specific, medical oncologist-specific, and hospital-specific probabilities of delayed time to adjuvant chemotherapy ranged from 30 to 38, 17 to 59, and 27 to 43 %, respectively. Delayed time to adjuvant chemotherapy was associated with disease-specific survival (hazard ratio [HR] 1.24, 95 % confidence interval [CI] 1.07-1.45). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest there is substantial variation in time to adjuvant chemotherapy among stage III colon cancer patients. Reasons for delays may be due to system factors that influence individual providers to make varying decisions on the time of initiation. Future research should identify what these factors may be and how to address them to promote better delivery of care.