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The aim of this analysis was to determine whether optimal outcomes have increased in recent years. Hepatic surgery is high risk, but regionalization and minimally invasive approaches have evolved. Best practices also have been defined with the goal of improving outcomes.The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database was queried. Analyses were performed separately for partial (≤2 segments), major (≥3 segments), and all hepatectomies. Optimal hepatic surgery was defined as the absence of mortality, serious morbidity, need for a postoperative invasive procedure or reoperation, prolonged length of stay (75th percentile) or readmission. Tests of trend, χFrom 2014 to 2018, 17,082 hepatectomies, including 11,862 partial hepatectomies and 5,220 major hepatectomies, were analyzed. Minimally invasive approaches increased from 25.6% in 2014 to 29.6% in 2018 (P.01) and were performed more frequently for partial hepatectomies (34.2%) than major hepatectomies (14.4%) (P.01). Operative time decreased from 220 minutes in 2014 to 208 minutes in 2018 (P.05) and was lower in partial hepatectomies (189 vs 258 minutes for major hepatectomies) (P.01). Mortality (0.7%) and length of stay (4 days) were lower for partial hepatectomies compared with major hepatectomies (1.9%; 6 days), and length of stay decreased for both partial hepatectomies (5 days in 2014 to 4 days in 2018) and major hepatectomies (6 days in 2014 to 6 days in 2018) (all P.01). Postoperative sepsis (2.9% in 2014 and 2.4% in 2018), bile leaks (6% in 2014 and 4.8% in 2018), and liver failure (3.7% in 2014 and 3.3% in 2018) decreased for all patients (.05). On multivariable analyses, overall morbidity decreased for major hepatectomies (OR 0.95, 95% CI 0.91-0.99) and all hepatectomies (OR 0.97, 95% CI 0.94-0.99, both P.01), and optimal hepatic surgery increased over time for partial hepatectomies (OR 1.05, 95% CI 1.02-1.09) and all hepatectomies (OR 1.04, 95% CI 1.02-1.07, both P.01).Over a 5-year period in North America, minimally invasive hepatectomies have increased, while operative time, postoperative sepsis, bile leaks, liver failure, and prolonged length of stay have decreased. Optimal hepatic surgery has increased for partial and all hepatectomies and is achieved more often in partial than in major resections.

Background Survival prediction models have largely been derived and validated only in high-resource Western countries or in single center studies. We sought to create a prediction model for 28-day mortality using laboratory and physiologic parameters from 3 international sepsis cohorts and externally validated the model. Methods During 2014 to 2021, adult hospitalized patients with suspected infection were enrolled in Durham, United States (N=180) and those with suspected infection and ≥2 SIRS (Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome) criteria in Takeo, Cambodia (N=200), and Kumasi, Ghana (N=187). Twenty-five clinical laboratory and physiologic parameters were candidate covariates and sepsis screening scores included as comparators. First, bivariate Cox regression models were performed to determine risk of individual parameters. Then, a 10-fold cross-validated forward stepwise model selection technique was used to eliminate nonsignificant variables using a p-value < 0.10 and the cross-validated C-statistic was estimated. Lastly, this model was applied to an external cohort of hospitalized adults with suspected infection and ≥2 SIRS in Fort Portal, Uganda (N=331 with 9.3% 28-day mortality). Results Among 567 participants, overall mortality was 16.4% at 28-days. Mortality rate highest in Ghana (31.0%), followed by Cambodia (11.0%) and the United States (7.2%). Bivariate analyses identified hypernatremia ( >145 mEq/L) being associated with the highest risk of death (hazard ratio: 7.42; 95% CI: 3.65 to 15.10; Figure 1). On multivariable analysis, a 28-day mortality model including mean arterial pressure, Glasgow Coma score, blood sodium, lactate, and blood urea nitrogen (Table 1) resulted in a 10-fold cross-validated C-statistic of 0.80 (95% CI: 0.61 to 0.88). This model predicted mortality accurately in the validation cohort with a C-statistic of 0.74 (95%CI: 0.69 to 0.79). Figure 1.Forest plot for bivariate analyses for one month survival across United States, Cambodia, and Ghana cohorts. Conclusion Hypotension, altered mental status, serum sodium, serum BUN, and plasma lactate accurately identified risk of death by 28-days among those with suspected sepsis in 3 international derivation cohorts and in a validation cohort in Uganda. Our findings emphasize the importance of clinical laboratory results for sepsis risk stratification. Disclosures Ephraim L. Tsalik, MD PhD, Danaher Diagnostics, Predigen, and Biomeme: In the past 3 years, I have had held equity and consulted for Predigen and Biomeme. Currently, I am an employee of Danaher Diagnostics. Christopher W. Woods, MD MPH, Predigen, Inc: Co-founder.

BackgroundDirect comparisons of sepsis screening tools for prognostication have largely been limited to single-centre or high-income countries despite a disproportionately high burden of sepsis in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We evaluated the performance of commonly used sepsis screening tools across prospective sepsis cohorts in the United States, Cambodia, and Ghana.MethodsFrom 2014 to 2021, participants with 2 or more SIRS (Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome) criteria and suspected infection were enrolled in emergency departments and medical wards at hospitals in the Cambodia and Ghana and hospitalized participants with suspected infection were enrolled in the United States. Cox proportional hazards regression was performed, and Harrell’s C-statistic calculated to determine 28-day mortality prediction performance of the qSOFA score ≥2, SIRS score ≥3, NEWS ≥5, MEWS ≥5, or UVA score ≥2, Screening tools were compared to baseline risk (age and sex) with the Wald test.ResultsThe cohorts included 567 participants (42.9% female) including 187 participants from Kumasi, Ghana, 200 participants from Takeo, Cambodia, and 180 participants from Durham, North Carolina in the United States. The pooled mortality was 16.4% at 28-days. The mortality prediction accuracy increased from baseline risk with the MEWS (C-statistic: 0.63, 95% CI: 0.58, 0.68; p=0.002), NEWS (C-statistic: 0.68; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.64, 0.73; pConclusionsAmong the cohorts, MEWS, NEWS, qSOFA, and UVA scores performed better than baseline risk, largely driven by accuracy improvements in Ghana, while SIRS scores did not improve prognostication accuracy. Prognostication scores should be validated within the target population prior to clinical use.Key questionsWhat is already known on this topic – While single-centre cohorts and retrospective analyses have been performed, the optimal sepsis screening tool for prognostication in low- and middle-income countries is unknown.What this study adds – The MEWS, NEWS, qSOFA scores, but not SIRS, were additive over baseline risk for prognostication in prospective hospitalized infection cohorts, but with variable additive performance within each cohort.How this study might affect research, practice or policy - Prognostication scores should be validated within the target population prior to clinical use.

BACKGROUND: The relationship between hospital Magnet status recognition and postoperative outcomes following complex cancer surgery remains ill-defined. We sought to characterize Textbook Outcome (TO) rates among patients undergoing (HP) surgery for cancer in Magnet versus non-Magnet centers. METHODS: Medicare beneficiaries undergoing HP surgery between 2015 and 2017 were identified. The association of postoperative TO (no complications/extended length-of-stay/90-day mortality/90-day readmission) with Magnet designation was examined after adjusting for competing risk factors. RESULTS: Among 10,997 patients, 21.3% (n = 2337) patients underwent surgery at Magnet hospitals (non-Magnet centers: 78.7%, n = 8660). On multivariable analysis, patients undergoing HP surgery had comparable odds of achieving a TO at Magnet versus non-Magnet hospitals (hepatectomy: odds ratio [OR]: 1.05, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.94-1.17; pancreatectomy-OR: 0.88, 95% CI: 0.74-1.06). Patients treated at hospitals with a high nurse-to-bed ratio had higher odds of achieving a TO irrespective of whether they received surgery at Magnet (high vs. low nurse-to-bed ratio; OR: 1.38; 95% CI: 1.01-1.89) or non-Magnet centers (OR: 1.26; 95% CI: 1.10-1.45). Similarly, hospital HP volume was strongly associated with higher odds of TO following HP surgery in both Magnet (Leapfrog compliant vs. noncompliant; OR: 1.24, 95% CI: 1.06-1.44) and non-Magnet centers (OR: 1.18; 95% CI: 1.11-1.26). CONCLUSION: Hospital Magnet designation was not an independent factor of superior outcomes after HP surgery. Rather, hospital-level factors such as nurse-to-bed ratio and HP procedural volume drove outcomes.

Background: Machine learning to predict morbidity and mortality—especially in a population traditionally considered low risk—has not been previously examined. We sought to characterize the incidence of death among patients with a low estimated morbidity and mortality risk based on the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) estimated probability (EP), as well as develop a machine learning model to identify individuals at risk for “unpredicted death” (UD) among patients undergoing hepatopancreatic (HP) procedures. Methods: The NSQIP database was used to identify patients who underwent elective HP surgery between 2012–2017. The risk of morbidity and mortality was stratified into three tiers (low, intermediate, or high estimated) using a k-means clustering method with bin sorting. A machine learning classification tree and multivariable regression analyses were used to predict 30-day mortality with a 10-fold cross validation. C statistics were used to compare model performance. Results: Among 63,507 patients who underwent an HP procedure, median patient age was 63 (IQR: 54–71) years. Patients underwent either pancreatectomy (n=38,209, 60.2%) or hepatic resection (n=25,298, 39.8%). Patients were stratified into three tiers of predicted morbidity and mortality risk based on the NSQIP EP: low (n=36,923, 58.1%), intermediate (n=23,609, 37.2%) and high risk (n=2,975, 4.7%). Among 36,923 patients with low estimated risk of morbidity and mortality, 237 patients (0.6%) experienced a UD. According to the classification tree analysis, age was the most important factor to predict UD (importance 16.9) followed by preoperative albumin level (importance: 10.8), disseminated cancer (importance: 6.5), preoperative platelet count (importance: 6.5), and sex (importance 5.9). Among patients deemed to be low risk, the c-statistic for the machine learning derived prediction model was 0.807 compared with an AUC of only 0.662 for the NSQIP EP. Conclusions: A prognostic model derived using machine learning methodology performed better than the NSQIP EP in predicting 30-day UD among low risk patients undergoing HP surgery.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the current study was to define surgical outcomes after resection of multinodular hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) beyond the Milan criteria, and develop a prediction tool to identify which patients likely benefit the most from resection. BACKGROUND: Liver resection for multinodular HCC, especially beyond the Milan criteria, remains controversial. Rigorous selection of the best candidates for resection is essential to achieve optimal outcomes after liver resection of advanced tumors. METHODS: Patients who underwent resection for HCC between 2000 and 2017 were identified from an international multi-institutional database. Patients were categorized according to Milan criteria status. Pre- and postoperative overall survival (OS) prediction models that included HCC tumor burden score (TBS) among patients with multinodular HCC beyond Milan criteria were developed and validated. RESULTS: Among 1037 patients who underwent resection for HCC, 164 (15.8%) had multinodular HCC beyond the Milan criteria. Among patients with multinodular HCC, 25 (15.2%) patients experienced a serious complication and 90-day mortality was 3.7% (n = 6). Five-year OS after resection of multinodular HCC beyond Milan criteria was 52.8%. A preoperative TBS-based model (5-year OS: low-risk, 73.7% vs intermediate-risk, 45.1% vs high-risk, 13.1%), and postoperative TBS-based model (5-year OS: low-risk, 80.1% vs intermediate-risk, 37.2% vs high-risk, not reached) categorized patients into distinct prognostic groups relative to long-term prognosis (both P < 0.001). Pre- and postoperative models could accurately stratify OS in an external validation cohort (5-year OS; low vs medium vs high risk; pre: 66.3% vs 25.2% vs not reached, P = 0.012; post: 61.4% vs 42.5% vs not reached, P = 0.045) Predictive accuracy of the pre- and postoperative models was good in the training (c-index; pre: 0.68; post: 0.71), internal validation (n = 2000 resamples) (c-index, pre: 0.70; post: 0.72) and external validation (c-index, pre: 0.67; post 0.68) datasets. TBS alone could stratify patients relative to 5-year OS after resection of multinodular HCC beyond Milan criteria (c-index: 0.65; 5-year OS; low TBS: 70.2% vs medium TBS: 54.7% vs high TBS: 16.7%; P < 0.001). The vast majority of patients with low and intermediate TBS were deemed low or medium risk based on both the preoperative (98.4%) and postoperative risk scores (95.3%). CONCLUSION: Prognosis of patients with multinodular HCC was largely dependent on overall tumor burden. Liver resection should be considered among patients with multinodular HCC beyond the Milan criteria who have a low- or intermediate-TBS.

Geographic variations in access to care exist in the USA. We sought to characterize county-level disparities relative to access to surgery among patients with early-stage hepatopancreatic (HP) cancer. Data were extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare Linked database from 2004 to 2015 to identify patients undergoing surgery for early-stage HP cancer . County-level information was acquired from the Area Health Resources Files (AHRF). Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to assess factors associated with utilization of HP surgery on the county level. Among 13,639 patients who met inclusion criteria, 66.9% (n = 9125) were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and 33.1% (n = 4514) of patients had liver cancer. Among patients diagnosed with early-stage liver and pancreas malignancy, two-thirds (n = 8878, 65%) underwent surgery. Marked county-level variation in the utilization of surgery was noted among patients with early-stage HP cancer ranging from 57.1% to more than 83.3% depending on which county a patient resided. After controlling for patient and tumor-related characteristics, counties with the highest quartile of patients living below the poverty level had 35% lower odds of receiving surgery for early stage HP cancer compared patients who lived in a county with the lowest proportion of patients below the poverty line (OR 0.65, 95% CI 0.55–0.77). In addition, patients residing in counties with the highest surgeon-to-population ratio (OR 2.01, 95% CI 1.52–2.65), as well as the highest hospital bed-to-population ratio (OR 1.29, 95% CI 1.07–1.54), were more likely to undergo surgical treatment for an early-stage HP malignancy. Area-level variations among patients undergoing surgery for early-stage HP cancer were mainly due to differences in structural measures and county-level factors. Policies targeting high-poverty counties and improvement in structural measures may reduce variations in utilization of surgery among patients diagnosed with early-stage HP cancer.

Background: Composite measures such as "Textbook Outcome" (TO) may be superior to individual quality metrics to assess surgical care and hospital performance. However, the incidence and factors associated with TO after resection of HCC remain poorly defined. Methods: Hospital variation in the rates of TO, factors associated with achieving a TO and the impact of TO on long-term survival following resection for HCC were examined using an international multi-institutional database. Results: Among 605 patients who underwent curative-intent resection of HCC, the unadjusted incidence of TO ranged from 50.9% to 77.7%. While achievement of each individual quality metric was relatively high (range, 74.5-98.0%), an overall TO was achieved among only 62.3% (n = 377) of patients. At the hospital level, TO ranged from 54.3% to 72.9%. Patients with BCLC-0 HCC (referent BCLC-B/C; OR: 4.17, 95%CI: 1.62-10.7) and ALBI grade 1 (referent ALBI grade 2/3; OR: 1.49, 95%CI: 1.06-2.11) had higher odds of achieving a TO. On multivariable analysis, TO was associated with improved overall survival (HR: 0.60, 95% CI: 0.42-0.85). Conclusion: Roughly 6 in 10 patients achieved a TO following resection for HCC. When achieved, TO was associated with better long-term outcomes. TO is a simple composite measure of both short- and long-term outcomes among patients undergoing resection for HCC. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Although KRAS mutation status is known to affect the prognosis of patients with colorectal liver metastasis, the hierarchical association between other prognostic factors and KRAS status is not fully understood.Patients who underwent a hepatectomy for colorectal liver metastasis were identified in a multi-institutional international database. A classification and regression tree model was constructed to investigate the hierarchical association between prognostic factors and overall survival relative to KRAS status.Among 1,123 patients, 29.9% (n = 336) had a KRAS mutation. Among wtKRAS patients, the classification and regression tree model identified presence of metastatic lymph nodes as the most important prognostic factor, whereas among mtKRAS patients, carcinoembryonic antigen level was identified as the most important prognostic factor. Among patients with wtKRAS, the highest 5-year overall survival (68.5%) was noted among patients with node negative primary colorectal cancer, solitary colorectal liver metastases, size4.3 cm. In contrast, among patients with mtKRAS colorectal liver metastases, the highest 5-year overall survival (57.5%) was observed among patients with carcinoembryonic antigen6 mg/mL. The classification and regression tree model had higher prognostic accuracy than the Fong score (wtKRAS [Akaike's Information Criterion]: classification and regression tree model 3334 vs Fong score 3341; mtKRAS [Akaike's Information Criterion]: classification and regression tree model 1356 vs Fong score 1396).Machine learning methodology outperformed the traditional Fong clinical risk score and identified different factors, based on KRAS mutational status, as predictors of long-term prognosis.

Background Although most conventional risk prediction models have been based on preoperative information, intra- and post-operative events may be more relevant to mortality after surgery. We sought to develop a mortality risk calculator based on real time characteristics associated with hepatectomy. Methods Patients who underwent hepatectomy between 2014 and 2017 were identified in the ACS-NSQIP dataset. Three prediction models (pre-, intra-, post-operative) were developed and validated using perioperative data. Results Among 14,720 patients, 197 (1.3%) experienced 30-day mortality. The predictive ability of the real-time mortality risk calculator was very good based on only preoperative factors (AUC; training cohort: 0.813, validation cohort: 0.731). Incorporating intra-operative variables into the model increased the AUC (training: 0.838, validation: 0.777), while the post-operative model achieved an AUC of 0.922 in the training and 0.885 in the validation cohorts, respectively. While patients with low preoperative risk had only very small fluctuations in the estimated 30-day mortality risk during the intraoperative (Δ0.4%) and postoperative (Δ0.6%) phases, patients who were already deemed high risk preoperatively had additional increased mortality risk based on factors that occurred in the intraoperative (Δ5.4%) and postoperative (Δ9.3%) periods. Conclusion A real-time mortality risk calculator may better help clinicians identify patients at risk of death at the different stages of the surgical episode.

The current study aimed to define the relationship between patient satisfaction, hospital-level factors, and clinical outcomes among patients undergoing major surgery for cancer. The Medicare Inpatient Standard Analytic Files were used to identify patients undergoing lung, esophageal, colorectal, hepatic, or pancreatic surgery between 2016 and 2017, and Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey data were used to assess performance in terms of patient satisfaction. Among 60,446 patients, half were female (n = 31,244, 52%) with a median age of 73 years (interquartile range [IQR] 69–78 years). Patients who underwent surgery for esophageal resection (odds ratio [OR] 2.44; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.10–5.40) and were Caucasian (OR 2.43; 95% CI 2.11–2.81) had optimal patient satisfaction. Hospital level factors such as urban location (OR 3.69; 95% CI 3.16–4.29), 200 + beds (OR 3.58; 95% CI 3.09–4.13), greater inpatient surgical volume (OR 3.03; 95% CI 2.82–3.25), higher nurse-to-bed ratio (OR 4.57; 95% CI 4.25–4.92), non-profit hospital status (OR 1.14; 95% CI 1.01–1.29), and non-teaching hospital status (OR 1.52; 95% CI 1.39–1.65) were related to optimal patient satisfaction. In adjusted analysis, patients undergoing surgery at hospitals reporting poor or average patient satisfaction had 22% higher odds of 90-day mortality than patients undergoing surgery at optimal-satisfaction hospitals (OR 1.22; 95% CI 1.09–1.36). In addition, hospitals with the highest patient satisfaction scores also had the highest proportion of surgical cases that achieved the composite textbook outcome (TO) quality metric (OR 1.12; 95% CI 1.05–1.20). Higher patient satisfaction was strongly associated with hospital structural measures such as bed number, urban location, nurse-to-bed ratio, and “optimal” TO after cancer surgery. These data highlight how high quality of care can directly lead to improved patient satisfaction among surgical patients with cancer.

Assessing composite measures of quality such as textbook outcome may be superior to focusing on individual parameters when evaluating hospital performance. The aim of the current study was to assess the impact of teaching hospital status on the occurrence of a textbook outcome after hepatopancreatic surgery.The Medicare Inpatient Standard Analytic Files were used to identify patients undergoing hepatopancreatic surgery from 2013 to 2015 for a malignant indication. Stratified and multivariable regression analyses were performed to determine the relationship between teaching hospital status, hospital surgical volume and textbook outcome.Among 8,035 Medicare patients (hepatectomy; 41.8%, pancreatectomy; 58.2%), 6,196 (77.1%) patients underwent surgery at a major teaching hospital, whereas 1,839 (22.9%) patients underwent surgery at a minor teaching hospital. Patients undergoing surgery for pancreatic cancer at a major teaching hospital had a greater likelihood of achieving a textbook outcome compared with patients treated at a minor teaching hospital (minor teaching hospital: 456, 40% versus major teaching hospital: 1,606, 45.4%; P = .002). The likelihood of textbook outcome was also greater among patients undergoing hepatopancreatic surgery at high-volume centers (pancreas, low volume: 875, 40.5% versus high volume: 1,187, 47.1% P.001; liver, low volume: 608, 41.8% versus high volume: 886, 46.6%; P = .005). When examining only major teaching hospitals, patients undergoing a pancreatectomy at a high-volume center had 29% greater odds of achieving a textbook outcome (odds ratio 1.29, 95% confidence interval 1.12-1.49). In contrast, among patients undergoing pancreatic resection at high-volume centers, the odds of achieving a textbook outcome was comparable among major versus minor teaching hospital (odds ratio 1.17, 95% confidence interval 0.89-1.53).The odds of achieving a textbook outcome after pancreatic and hepatic surgery was greater at major versus minor teaching hospitals; however, this effect was largely mediated by hepatopancreatic procedural volume. Patients and payers should focus on regionalization of pancreatic and liver resection to high-volume centers in an effort to optimize the chances of achieving a textbook outcome.

Background The objective of the current study was to define and compare rates of textbook outcomes (TO) among patients undergoing colorectal, lung, esophagus, liver, and pancreatic surgery for cancer at U.S. News & World Report (USNWR) ranked hospitals. Methods Medicare Inpatient Standard Analytic Files 2013-2015 were utilized to examine the relationship of TO and USNWR hospital ratings following surgery for colorectal, lung, esophageal, pancreatic, and liver cancer. TO was defined as no postoperative surgical complications, no prolonged length of hospital stay, no readmission within 90 days after discharge, and no postoperative mortality within 90 days after surgery. Results Among the 35,352 Medicare patients included in the cohort, 16,820 (47.6%) underwent surgery at honor roll hospitals, whereas 18 532 (52.4%) underwent surgery at non-honor roll hospitals. The overall proportion of patients who achieved TO was 50.1%. In examining the clinical outcomes of patients who underwent surgery, there was no difference in the odds of achieving TO at honor roll vs non-honor roll hospitals (colorectal: odds ratio [OR], 0.87; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.69-1.10; lung: OR, 1.07; 95% CI, 0.87-1.32; esophagus: OR, 1.44; 95% CI, 0.72-2.89; liver: OR, 1.27; 95% CI, 0.87-1.84; pancreas: OR, 1.04; 95% CI, 0.67-1.62). Conclusion and relevance Patients undergoing surgery for lung, esophageal, liver, pancreatic, and colorectal cancer had comparable rates of TO at honor roll vs non-honor roll hospitals. No linear association was observed between hospital position in the rank and postoperative outcomes such as TO indicating that patients should not overly focus on the exact position within USNWR ranked hospitals. These data highlight to patients and physicians that up to one-half of patients undergoing surgery for cancer should anticipate at least one adverse outcome.

Although previous studies have suggested that drain management is highly variable, data on drain placement and timing of drain removal among patients undergoing hepatic resection remain scarce. The objective of the current study was to define the utilization of drain placement among patients undergoing major hepatic resection. The ACS NSQIP-targeted hepatectomy database was used to identify patients who underwent major hepatectomy between 2014 and 2017. Association between day of drain removal, timing of discharge, and drain fluid bilirubin on postoperative day (POD) 3 (DFB-3) was assessed. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to compare outcomes of patients with a drain removed before and after POD 3. Among 5330 patients, most patients had an abdominal drain placed at the time of hepatic resection (n = 3075, 57.7%). Of 2495 patients with data on timing of drain removal, only 380 patients (15.2%) had their drain removed by POD 3. Almost 1 in 6 patients (n = 441, 17.7%) were discharged home with the drain in place. DFB-3 values correlated poorly with POD of drain removal (R2 = 0.0049). After PSM, early drain removal (≤ POD 3) was associated with lower rates of grade B or C bile leakage (2.1% vs. 7.1%, p = 0.008) and prolonged length of hospital stay (6.0% vs. 12.7%, p = 0.009) compared with delayed drain removal (> POD 3). Roughly 3 in 5 patients had a drain placed at the time of major hepatectomy and only 1 in 7 patients had the drain removed early. This study demonstrated the potential benefits of early drain removal in an effort to improve the quality of care following major hepatectomy.

Background: The objective of the current study was to assess the impact of serum CA19-9 and CEA and their combination on survival among patients undergoing surgery for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC). Methods: Patients who underwent curative-intent resection of ICC between 1990 and 2016 were identified using a multi-institutional database. Patients were categorized into four groups based on combinations of serum CA19-9 and CEA (low vs. high). Factors associated with 1-year mortality after hepatectomy were examined. Results: Among 588 patients, 5-year OS was considerably better among patients with low CA19-9/low CEA (54.5%) compared with low CA19-9/high CEA (14.6%), high CA19-9/low CEA (10.0%), or high CA19-9/high CEA (0%) (P < 0.001). No difference in 1-year OS existed between patients who had either high CA19-9 (high CA19-9/low CEA:70.4%) or high CEA levels (low CA19-9/high CEA:72.5%) (P = 0.92). Although patients with the most favorable tumor marker profile (low CA19-9/low CEA) had the best 1-year survival (87.9%), 15.1% (n = 39) still died within a year of surgery. Among patients with low CA19-9/low CEA, a high neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) (odds ratio 1.09; 95% confidence interval 1.03-1.64) and large size tumor (odds ratio 3.34; 95% confidence interval 1.40–8.10) were associated with 1-year mortality (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Patients with either a high CA19-9 and/or high CEA had poor 1-year survival. High NLR and large tumor size were associated with a greater risk of 1-year mortality among patients with favorable tumor marker profile.

The aim of the current study is to assess rates of textbook outcome (TO) among Medicare beneficiaries undergoing hepatopancreatic (HP) surgery for cancer at dedicated cancer centers (DCCs) and National Cancer Institute affiliated cancer centers (NCI-CCs) versus non-DCC non-NCI hospitals. Medicare Inpatient Standard Analytic Files were utilized to identify patients undergoing HP surgery between 2013 and 2017. TO was defined as no postoperative surgical complications, no 90-day mortality, no prolonged length of hospital stay, and no 90-day readmission after discharge. Among 21,234 Medicare patients, 8.2% patients underwent surgery at DCCs whereas 32.1% underwent surgery at NCI-CCs and 59.7% underwent an operation at neither DCCs nor NCI-CCs. Although DCCs more often cared for patients with severe comorbidities [Charlson score > 5: DCCs, 1195 (68.9%), NCI-CCs, 3687 (54.1%), others, 3970 (31.3%); p

Background: The adoption of spleen-preserving distal pancreatectomy (SPDP) for malignant disease such as pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNETs) has been controversial. The objective of the current study was to assess the impact of SPDP on outcomes of patients with pNETs. Methods: Patients undergoing a distal pancreatectomy for pNET between 2002 and 2016 were identified in the US Neuroendocrine Tumor Study Group database. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to compare short- and long-term outcomes of patients undergoing SPDP versus distal pancreatectomy with splenectomy (DPS). Results: Among 621 patients, 103 patients (16.6%) underwent an SPDP. Patients who underwent SPDP were more likely to have lower BMI (median, 27.5 [IQR 24.0–31.2] vs. 28.7 [IQR 25.7–33.6]; p = 0.005) and have undergone minimally invasive surgery (n = 56, 54.4% vs. n = 185, 35.7%; p < 0.001). After PSM, while the median total number of lymph nodes examined among patients who underwent an SPDP was lower compared with DPS (3 [IQR 1–8] vs. 9 [5–13]; p < 0.001), 5-year overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were comparable (OS: 96.8 vs. 92.0%, log-rank p = 0.21, RFS: 91.1 vs. 84.7%, log-rank p = 0.93). In addition, patients undergoing SPDP had less intraoperative blood loss (median, 100 mL [IQR 10–250] vs. 150 mL [IQR 100–400]; p = 0.001), lower incidence of serious complications (n = 13, 12.8% vs. n = 28, 27.5%; p = 0.014), and shorter length of stay (median: 5 days [IQR 4–7] vs. 6 days [IQR 5–13]; p = 0.049) compared with patients undergoing DPS. Conclusion: SPDP for pNET was associated with acceptable perioperative and long-term outcomes that were comparable to DPS. SPDP should be considered for patients with pNET.

Background: The objective of this study was to examine whether the systemic immune inflammation index (SII) was associated with prognosis among patients following resection of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC). Methods: The impact of SII on overall (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) following resection of ICC was assessed. The performance of the final multivariable models that incorporated inflammatory markers (i.e. neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio [NLR], platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio [PLR] and SII [platelets∗NLR]) was assessed using the Harrell's concordance index. Results: Patients with high SII had worse 5-year OS (37.7% vs 46.6%, p < 0.001) and CSS (46.1% vs 50.1%, p < 0.001) compared with patients with low SII. An elevated SII (HR = 1.70, 95% CI 1.23–2.34) and NLR (HR = 1.58, 95% CI 1.10–2.27) independently predicted worse OS, whereas high PLR (HR = 1.17, 95% CI 0.85–1.60) was no longer associated with prognosis. Only SII remained an independent predictor of CSS (HR = 1.55, 95% CI 1.09–2.21). The SII multivariable model outperformed models that incorporated PLR and NLR relative to OS (c-index; 0.696 vs 0.689 vs 0.692) and CSS (c-index; 0.697 vs 0.689 vs 0.690). Conclusion: SII independently predicted OS and CSS among patients with resectable ICC. SII may be a better predictor of outcomes compared with other markers of inflammatory response among patients with resectable ICC.

The relationship of volume and travel distance to patient outcomes after resection of gallbladder cancer (GBC) remains poorly defined.The 2004-2015 National Cancer Database was used to identify GBC resection patients and examine the impact of travel distance, hospital volume and both on overall survival (OS) and quality of care indicators.Among 10,174 patients undergoing surgery for GBC, the majority of patients were Caucasian (N = 8,175, 80%) and had a Charlson-Deyo comorbidity score of 0 (N = 6,785, 67%). On unadjusted survival analysis increasing travel distance and hospital volume were associated with improved OS (both p0.001). After controlling for competing risk factors, the 4th quartile of hospital volume was associated with a decreased hazard of death (HR 0.831, 95% CI 0.751-0.920, p0.001). When both hospital volume and travel distance were included, the association with improved OS persisted only for hospital volume (4th quartile HR 0.835, 95% CI 0.753-0.925, p0.001), whereas there was no independent association of increasing travel distance with OS.Both increasing travel distance and hospital volume were associated with improved OS; however, adjusted models demonstrated that the impact of travel distance was mediated through hospital volume.

ObjectivesWe evaluated the performance of commonly used sepsis screening tools across prospective sepsis cohorts in the USA, Cambodia and Ghana.DesignProspective cohort studies.Setting and participantsFrom 2014 to 2021, participants with two or more SIRS (Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome) criteria and suspected infection were enrolled in emergency departments and medical wards at hospitals in Cambodia and Ghana and hospitalised participants with suspected infection were enrolled in the USA. Cox proportional hazards regression was performed, and Harrell’s C-statistic calculated to determine 28-day mortality prediction performance of the quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA) score ≥2, SIRS score ≥3, National Early Warning Score (NEWS) ≥5, Modified Early Warning Score (MEWS) ≥5 or Universal Vital Assessment (UVA) score ≥2. Screening tools were compared with baseline risk (age and sex) with the Wald test.ResultsThe cohorts included 567 participants (42.9% women) including 187 participants from Kumasi, Ghana, 200 participants from Takeo, Cambodia and 180 participants from Durham, North Carolina in the USA. The pooled mortality was 16.4% at 28 days. The mortality prediction accuracy increased from baseline risk with the MEWS (C-statistic: 0.63, 95% CI 0.58 to 0.68; p=0.002), NEWS (C-statistic: 0.68; 95% CI 0.64 to 0.73; pConclusionsAmong the cohorts, MEWS, NEWS, qSOFA and UVA scores performed better than baseline risk, largely driven by accuracy improvements in Ghana, while SIRS scores did not improve prognostication accuracy. Prognostication scores should be validated within the target population prior to clinical use.

Background Venous phlebotomy performed by trained personnel is critical for patient diagnosis and monitoring of chronic disease, but has limitations in resource-constrained settings, and represents an infection control challenge during outbreaks. Self-collection devices have the potential to shift phlebotomy closer to the point of care, supporting telemedicine strategies and virtual clinical trials. Here we assess a capillary blood micro-sampling device, the Tasso Serum Separator Tube (SST), for measuring blood protein levels in healthy subjects and non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Methods 57 healthy controls and 56 participants with mild/moderate COVID-19 were recruited at two U.S. military healthcare facilities. Healthy controls donated Tasso SST capillary serum, venous plasma and venous serum samples at multiple time points, while COVID-19 patients donated a single Tasso SST serum sample at enrolment. Concentrations of 17 protein inflammatory biomarkers were measured in all biospecimens by Ella multi-analyte immune-assay. Results Tasso SST serum protein measurements in healthy control subjects were highly reproducible, but their agreements with matched venous samples varied. Most of the selected proteins, including CRP, Ferritin, IL-6 and PCT, were well-correlated between Tasso SST and venous serum with little sample type bias, but concentrations of D-dimer, IL-1B and IL-1Ra were not. Self-collection at home with delayed sample processing was associated with significant concentrations differences for several analytes compared to supervised, in-clinic collection with rapid processing. Finally, Tasso SST serum protein concentrations were significantly elevated in in non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients compared with healthy controls. Conclusions Self-collection of capillary blood with micro-sampling devices provides an attractive alternative to routine phlebotomy. However, concentrations of certain analytes may differ significantly from those in venous samples, and factors including user proficiency, temperature control and time lags between specimen collection and processing need to be considered for their effect on sample quality and reproducibility.

Safety-net hospitals are critical to the US health system as they provide care to vulnerable patients. The effect of hospital safety-net burden on patient outcomes in hepatopancreaticobiliary (HPB) surgery was examined. Discharge data between 2004 and 2014 from the National Inpatient Sample were utilized. Hospitals with a safety-net burden were divided into tertiles: low (LBH) ( 33.3%). The association of hospital safety-net burden with complications, in-hospital mortality, never events, and costs were defined. Nearly 5% of the analytic cohort (n = 65,032) had surgery at a HBH. Patients treated at HBH were younger (median age, HBH 55 years vs LBH 62 years; p

The impact of preoperative cholangitis (PC) on perioperative outcomes among patients undergoing liver resection remains poorly defined. We sought to characterize the prevalence of PC among patients undergoing hepatectomy and define the impact of PC on postoperative outcomes. Patients who underwent liver resection between 2013 and 2015 were identified using the Center for Medicare Services (CMS) 100% Limited Data Set (LDS) Standard Analytic Files (SAFs). Short-term outcomes after liver resection, stratified by the presence of PC, were examined. Subgroup analyses were performed to evaluate the relationship between the timing of liver resection relative to PC. Among 7392 patients undergoing liver resection, 251 patients (3.4%) experienced PC. Patients with PC were more likely to be male (59.0% vs. 50.6%) and to have a benign diagnosis (34.3% vs. 19.8%) compared with patients without PC (both p

Background: There is an ongoing debate about expanding the resection criteria for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) beyond the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) guidelines. We sought to determine the factors that held the most prognostic weight in the pre- and postoperative setting for each BCLC stage by applying a machine learning method. Methods: Patients who underwent resection for BCLC-0, A and B HCC between 2000 and 2017 were identified from an international multi-institutional database. A Classification and Regression Tree (CART) model was used to generate homogeneous groups of patients relative to overall survival (OS) based on pre- and postoperative factors. Results: Among 976 patients, 63 (6.5%) had BCLC-0, 745 (76.3%) had BCLC-A, and 168 (17.2%) had BCLC-B HCC. Five-year OS among BCLC-0/A and BCLC-B patients was 64.2% versus 50.2%, respectively (p = 0.011). The preoperative CART model selected α-fetoprotein (AFP) and Charlson comorbidity score (CCS) as the first and second most important preoperative factors of OS among BCLC-0/A patients, whereas radiologic tumor burden score (TBS) was the best predictor of OS among BCLC-B patients. The postoperative CART model revealed lymphovascular invasion as the best postoperative predictor of OS among BCLC-0/A patients, whereas TBS remained the best predictor of long-term outcomes among BCLC-B patients in the postoperative setting. On multivariable analysis, pathologic TBS independently predicted worse OS among BCLC-0/A (hazard ratio [HR] 1.04, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.02-1.07) and BCLC-B patients (HR 1.13, 95% CI 1.06-1.19) undergoing resection. Conclusion: Prognostic stratification of patients undergoing resection for HCC within and beyond the BCLC resection criteria should include assessment of AFP and comorbidities for BCLC-0/A patients, as well as tumor burden for BCLC-B patients. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Background The focus of the current Medicare payment reform is to increase value – i.e. improve health care quality while lowering costs. This study sought to define cost variation and surgical quality among hospitals within small geographic areas typical of work commute patterns. Methods Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MEDPAR) Inpatient Files was used to identify patients undergoing elective liver and pancreatic surgery between 2013 and 2015. Hospitals were assigned to combined statistical areas (CSAs) based on zip codes. Average price-standardized Medicare payments were used to identify highest- and lowest-cost hospitals within CSAs, and clinical outcomes were compared. Results The study included 12,016 patients. Medicare payments for index hospitalization were 45% ($12,580), 42% ($16,831), 44% ($12,901) and 50% ($18,605) higher for the highest-vs. lowest-cost hospitals for non-complex pancreatic procedures, complex pancreatic procedures, non-complex liver procedures, and complex liver procedures, respectively. Surgical quality was worse at highest-vs. lowest-cost hospitals, demonstrated by higher rates of complications, prolonged LOS and 90-day mortality. Conclusion There was a significant variation in surgical cost for each procedure between CSAs, and within CSAs. Highest-cost hospitals demonstrated worse quality metrics than the lowest-cost hospitals. Local referrals to low-cost hospitals represent an opportunity for increasing value of surgical care.

We sought to assess the perspectives of cancer patients relative to their spiritual well-being, as well as examine the impact of religion/spirituality during cancer care. A mixed-methods concurrent embedded online survey design was used. While 86% of participants indicated a religious/spiritual belief, respondents also reported lower overall spiritual well-being than population norms (t(73) = − 5.30, p

Given the need to increase female representation in hepatopancreatobiliary (HPB) surgery, as well as the need to increase the academic pipeline of women in this subspecialty, we sought to characterize the prevalence of female authorship in the HPB literature. In particular, the objective of the current study was to determine the proportion of women who published HPB research articles as first, second, or last author over the last decade. All articles pertaining to hepatopancreaticobiliary (HPB) surgery appearing in seven surgical journals (Annals of Surgery, British Journal of Surgery, JAMA Surgery, Annals of Surgical Oncology, HPB (Oxford), Surgery, and Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery) were reviewed for the years 2008 and 2018. Information on sex of author, country of author’s institution, and article type was collected and entered into a computerized database. Among the 1473 index articles included in the final analytic cohort, 414 (28%) publications had a woman as the first or last author, while the vast majority (n = 1,059, 72%) had a man as the first or last author. The number of female first authors increased from 15.6% (n = 92/591) in 2008 to 25.7% (n = 227/882) in 2018 (p

Surgical resection is the only potentially curative treatment for patients with colorectal, liver, and pancreatic cancers. Although these procedures are performed with low mortality, rates of complications remain relatively high following hepatopancreatic and colorectal surgery. The American College of Surgeons (ACS) National Surgical Quality Improvement Program was utilized to identify patients undergoing liver, pancreatic and colorectal surgery from 2014 to 2016. Decision tree models were utilized to predict the occurrence of any complication, as well as specific complications. To assess the variability of the performance of the classification trees, bootstrapping was performed on 50% of the sample. Algorithms were derived from a total of 15,657 patients who met inclusion criteria. The algorithm had a good predictive ability for the occurrence of any complication, with a C-statistic of 0.74, outperforming the ASA (C-statistic 0.58) and ACS-Surgical Risk Calculator (C-statistic 0.71). The algorithm was able to predict with high accuracy thirteen out of the seventeen complications analyzed. The best performance was in the prediction of stroke (C-statistic 0.98), followed by wound dehiscence, cardiac arrest, and progressive renal failure (all C-statistic 0.96). The algorithm had a good predictive ability for superficial SSI (C-statistic 0.76), organ space SSI (C-statistic 0.76), sepsis (C-statistic 0.79), and bleeding requiring transfusion (C-statistic 0.79). Machine learning was used to develop an algorithm that accurately predicted patient risk of developing complications following liver, pancreatic, or colorectal surgery. The algorithm had very good predictive ability to predict specific complications and demonstrated superiority over other established methods.

Background We sought to characterize epidural analgesia (EA) use among Medicare patients undergoing hepatopancreatic (HP) procedures, identify factors associated with EA use and asses perioperative outcomes. Methods Patients undergoing HP surgery were identified using the Inpatient Standard Analytic Files. Logistic regression was utilized to identify factors associated with EA receipt, and assess associations of EA with in-hospital outcomes and Medicare expenditures. Results Among 20,562 patients included in the study, 6.7% (n =1362) had EA. There was no difference in the odds of complications (OR 1.05, 95% CI 0.93–1.19) or blood transfusions (OR 0.90, 95% CI 0.79–1.03) with EA versus conventional analgesia (CA). The odds of prolonged LOS (OR 1.16, 95% CI 1.03–1.30) were higher with EA; the odds of in-hospital mortality were higher with conventional analgesia (OR 1.90, 95% CI 1.28–2.83). Medicare payments for liver surgery were comparable among EA ($19,500) versus conventional analgesia ($19,300, p = 0.85) and slightly higher for EA ($23,600) versus conventional analgesia ($22,000, p Conclusion EA utilization among Medicare patients undergoing HP was low. While EA was not associated with morbidity, it resulted in an average additional one day LOS and slightly higher expenditures in pancreatic surgery.

A retrospective study was performed to characterize trends in centralization of care and compliance with National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines for resected cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), and their impact on overall survival (OS).Using the National Cancer Database (NCDB) 2004-2015 we identified patients undergoing resection for CCA. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analyses identified time periods and hospital volume groups for comparison. Propensity score matching provided case-mix adjusted patient cohorts. Cox hazard analysis identified risk factors for OS.Among the 40,338 patients undergoing resection for CCA, the proportion of patients undergoing surgery at high volume hospitals increased over time (25%-44%, p0.001), while the proportion of patients undergoing surgery at low volume hospitals decreased (30%-15%, p0.001). Using ROC analyses, a hospital volume of 14 operations/year was the most sensitive and specific value associated with mortality. Surgery at high volume hospitals [HR] = 0.92, 95% CI: 0.88-0.97, p0.001) and receipt of care compliant with NCCN guidelines (HR = 0.87, 95% CI: 0.83-0.91, p0.001) were independently associated with improved OS.Both centralization of surgery for CCA to high volume hospitals and increased compliance with NCCN guidelines were associated with significant improvements in overall survival.

BACKGROUND Few data are available regarding the management and outcomes among patients with sarcomatoid hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) due to its rarity. METHODS Patients diagnosed with sarcomatoid HCC from 2004 through 2015 were identified in the National Cancer Data Base. Overall survival (OS) was calculated among patients with sarcomatoid versus conventional HCC using a 1:3 propensity score matching based on sex, age, and American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage of disease. RESULTS The final analytic cohort included 104 patients with sarcomatoid HCC and 312 patients with conventional HCC. Patients with sarcomatoid HCC more often had a larger median tumor size (8.5 cm vs 5.4 cm; P

While patient- and hospital-level factors affecting outcomes of patients undergoing pancreatoduodenectomy (PD) have been well described separately, the relative impact of these factors on in-hospital mortality has not been comprehensively assessed. Retrospective review of the National Inpatient Sample database (January 2004–December 2014) was conducted to identify patients undergoing PD. Factors associated with in-hospital mortality after PD were analyzed after adjusting for previously defined patient- and hospital-level risk factors. A total of 9639 patients who underwent a PD at 2325 hospitals were identified. Median patient age was 57 years (IQR 66–73). Overall, mortality following PD was 3.2%. When patient- and hospital-level characteristics were analyzed in the same model, patient-level characteristic associated with increased odds of in-hospital mortality included increasing patient age (OR 1.05, 95% CI 1.03–1.06/per 5 years increase), male sex (OR 1.47, 95% CI 1.16–1.86), the presence of liver disease (OR 3.03, 95% CI 1.99–4.61), chronic kidney disease (OR 1.78, 95% CI 1.18–2.68), and congestive heart failure (OR 2.48, 95% CI 1.65–3.74). The only hospital characteristic associated with odds of mortality following PD included compliance with Leapfrog volume standards (OR 0.70, 95% CI 0.54–0.92). Patient-level factors, such as advanced comorbidities, male sex, and increased age, contributed the most to increased risk of mortality after PD. Hospital volume was the only hospital-level factor contributing to risk of in-hospital mortality following PD.

Scirrhous hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a rare primary liver tumor characterized by extensive fibrosis and production of parathyroid hormone–related peptide. There have been conflicting reports on patient survival in scirrhous versus non-scirrhous HCC. The objective of the present study was to define the clinical features, practice patterns, and long-term outcomes of patients with scirrhous HCC versus non-scirrhous HCC in a propensity score–matched cohort. A propensity score–matched cohort was created using data from the National Cancer Database for 2004 to 2015. A multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was performed to assess the effect of the scirrhous HCC variant on overall survival. Among the 70,426 patients with a diagnosis of HCC who met the inclusion criteria, 99.8% had non-scirrhous HCC (n = 70,290) whereas a small subset had scirrhous HCC (n = 136, 0.19%). While 20,330 (28.9%) patients underwent liver-directed therapy (resection, ablation, and transplantation), the majority did not (n = 50,096, 71.1%). After propensity matching, there were no difference in 1-, 3-, or 5-year overall survival among patients with scirrhous versus non-scirrhous HCC (1-year overall survival (OS), 53.7% versus 51.0%; 3-year OS, 34.6% versus 28.7%; and 5-year OS, 18.0% versus 21.0%, respectively; p = 0.52). While the scirrhous HCC variant was not associated with survival (hazard ratio [HR] 0.93, 95% CI 0.74–1.16), non-receipt of liver-directed therapy (HR 0.24, 95% CI 0.18–0.32), advanced AJCC stage (III/IV) (HR 2.14, 95% CI 1.55–2.95), and non-academic facilities (HR 0.60, 95% CI 0.49–0.73) remained associated with worse survival. Patients with the scirrhous variant had a comparable overall survival compared with individuals who had non-scirrhous HCC. Failure to receive liver-directed therapy, advanced AJCC stage (III/IV), and treatment at a non-academic facility was strongly associated with a worse long-term prognosis.

INTRODUCTION: Disparities in health and healthcare access remain a major problem in the United States. The current study sought to investigate the relationship between patient insurance status and hospital selection for surgical care. METHODS: Patients who underwent liver or pancreatic resection for cancer between 2004 and 2014 were identified in the National Inpatient Sample. The association of insurance status and hospital type was examined. RESULTS: In total, 22,254 patients were included in the study. Compared with patients with private insurance, Medicaid patients were less likely to undergo surgery at urban non-teaching hospitals (OR=0.36, 95%CI 0.22–0.59) and urban teaching hospitals (OR=0.54, 95%CI 0.34–0.84) than rural hospitals. Medicaid patients were less likely to undergo surgery at private investor-owned hospitals (OR=0.53, 95%CI 0.38– 0.73) than private non-profit hospitals. In contrast, uninsured patients were 2.2-fold more likely to go to government funded hospitals rather than private non-profit hospitals (OR=2.19, 95%CI 1.76–2.71). CONCLUSION: Insurance status was strongly associated with the type of hospital in which patients underwent surgery for liver and pancreatic cancers. Addressing the reasons for inequitable access to different hospital settings relative to insurance status is essential to ensure that all patients undergoing pancreatic or liver surgery receive high quality surgical care.

Background The burden of health care spending in the United States is a major concern, as health care costs have exponentially increased during the last three decades. The objective of the current study was to investigate the degree of cost-concentration among Medicare patients undergoing liver and pancreatic surgery. Methods Medicare claims data from 2013 to 2015 were used to identify patients undergoing elective liver and pancreatic resections. Patients were divided into four groups: 1) non-complex pancreatic procedures; 2) complex pancreatic procedures; 3) non-complex liver procedures; and 4) complex liver procedures. Unadjusted price-standardized Medicare payments were calculated and payments were divided into quintiles. Patient-level factors associated with payments were analyzed by multivariable linear regression. Results A total of 17,125 patients were included in the study. Patients in the top quintile of spending accounted for over 40% of payments for all liver and pancreatic procedures. Patients with comorbidity scores ≥5, male sex, open surgical approach and a diagnosis of congestive heart failure were associated with higher costs. Conclusion Patients undergoing liver and pancreatic resections on the top 20% of payments were responsible for a disproportionate share of Medicare payments – over 40% of total expenditures. Overall hospital surgical volume was lower among the highest quintile of payments.

The aim of the current study was to identify the minimum number and the optimal range of lymph nodes (LNs) to be examined among patients with gallbladder cancer (GBC).Between January 1, 2004, and December 31, 2015, patients with a diagnosis of GBC were identified in the National Cancer Database. A machine-based learning approach was used to identify the minimum number and range of LNs to evaluate relative to long-term outcomes.Among 6531 patients with GBC, median number of LNs evaluated was 2 (IQR:1-5); only 21.1% (n = 1376) of patients had 6 or more LNs evaluated. The median number of metastatic LNs was 0 (IQR: 0-1). On multivariable analysis, evaluation of 4 LNs was associated with a higher hazard of death (referent 4-7 LNs: 4 LNs, HR = 1.27, 95% CI, 1.16-1.40; P 0.001), whereas, patients who had 4 to 7 LNs and 7 LNs evaluated had comparable long-term mortality risk (HR = 1.10, 95%CI, 0.98-1.24; P = 0.11). There was no difference in the proportion of patients who had at least one metastatic LN identified per T category based on total number of nodes resected (all P 0.05).The overwhelming majority of patients did not have the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) recommended 6 total LN count . A machine-based learning approach identified evaluation of 4 to 7 LNs as the LN number associated with optimal staging and survival. While obtaining 6 LNs may be challenging, evaluation of at least 4 LNs may be a more appropriate threshold as this cut-off value was associated with optimal patient outcomes and staging.

Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) remains an uncommon disease with a rising incidence worldwide. We sought to identify trends in therapeutic approaches and differences in patient outcomes based on facility types. Between January 1, 2004, and December 31, 2015, a total of 27,120 patients with histologic diagnosis of ICC were identified in the National Cancer Database and were enrolled in this study. The incidence of ICC patients increased from 1194 in 2004 to 3821 in 2015 with an average annual increase of 4.16% (p

Background: The objective of the current study was to develop a model to predict the likelihood of occult lymph node metastasis (LNM) prior to resection of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC). Methods: Patients who underwent hepatectomy for ICC between 2000 and 2017 were identified using a multi-institutional database. A novel model incorporating clinical and preoperative imaging data was developed to predict LNM. Results: Among 980 patients who underwent resection of ICC, 190 (19.4%) individuals had at least one LNM identified on final pathology. An enhanced imaging model incorporating clinical and imaging data was developed to predict LNM ( https://k-sahara.shinyapps.io/ICC_imaging/ ). The performance of the enhanced imaging model was very good in the training data set (c-index 0.702), as well as the validation data set with bootstrapping resamples (c-index 0.701) and outperformed the preoperative imaging alone (c-index 0.660). The novel model predicted both 5-year overall survival (OS) (low risk 48.4% vs. high risk 18.4%) and 5-year disease-specific survival (DSS) (low risk 51.9% vs. high risk 25.2%, both p < 0.001). When applied among Nx patients, 5-year OS and DSS of low-risk Nx patients was comparable with that of N0 patients, while high-risk Nx patients had similar outcomes to N1 patients (p > 0.05). Conclusion: This tool may represent an opportunity to stratify prognosis of Nx patients and can help inform clinical decision-making prior to resection of ICC. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Geographic variations in access to care exist in the USA. We sought to characterize county-level disparities relative to access to surgery among patients with early-stage hepatopancreatic (HP) cancer.Data were extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare Linked database from 2004 to 2015 to identify patients undergoing surgery for early-stage HP cancer . County-level information was acquired from the Area Health Resources Files (AHRF). Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to assess factors associated with utilization of HP surgery on the county level.Among 13,639 patients who met inclusion criteria, 66.9% (n = 9125) were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and 33.1% (n = 4514) of patients had liver cancer. Among patients diagnosed with early-stage liver and pancreas malignancy, two-thirds (n = 8878, 65%) underwent surgery. Marked county-level variation in the utilization of surgery was noted among patients with early-stage HP cancer ranging from 57.1% to more than 83.3% depending on which county a patient resided. After controlling for patient and tumor-related characteristics, counties with the highest quartile of patients living below the poverty level had 35% lower odds of receiving surgery for early stage HP cancer compared patients who lived in a county with the lowest proportion of patients below the poverty line (OR 0.65, 95% CI 0.55-0.77). In addition, patients residing in counties with the highest surgeon-to-population ratio (OR 2.01, 95% CI 1.52-2.65), as well as the highest hospital bed-to-population ratio (OR 1.29, 95% CI 1.07-1.54), were more likely to undergo surgical treatment for an early-stage HP malignancy.Area-level variations among patients undergoing surgery for early-stage HP cancer were mainly due to differences in structural measures and county-level factors. Policies targeting high-poverty counties and improvement in structural measures may reduce variations in utilization of surgery among patients diagnosed with early-stage HP cancer.

Background The objective of this study was to define the relative impact of alcohol and/or hepatitis-related HCC etiology on the outcomes of patients who underwent resection or transplantation for HCC. Methods The SEER-Medicare database was used to identify patients with HCC between 2004 and 2015. Patients with history of alcohol abuse or hepatitis were identified. Overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) were calculated using the Kaplan–Meier method and multivariable Cox regression analysis. Results Among 1140 patients, 11.9% (n = 136) of patients had alcohol-related HCC, 30.0% (n = 342) hepatitis-related HCC, and 58.1% (n = 662) had other cause-related HCC. On multivariable analysis, patients with alcohol-related HCC (HR:1.06, 95%CI:0.82–1.35) or hepatitis-related HCC (HR:1.05, 95%CI:0.88–1.26) had similar hazards of death compared with patients who had non-alcohol/non-hepatitis-related HCC. Patients who had tumor size ≤5 cm had lower hazards of death (HR:0.81, 95%CI:0.68–0.97), while individuals who underwent liver resection (vs. transplantation) had almost a two-fold higher hazards of death (HR:1.99, 95%CI:1.47–2.69). Conclusion Tumor specific factors (i.e. tumor size and stage) and operative approach (i.e. resection vs. transplantation) -rather than HCC etiology- dictated both OS and CSS.