Talk to the Veterans Crisis Line now
U.S. flag
An official website of the United States government

VA Health Systems Research

Go to the VA ORD website
Go to the QUERI website

HSR&D Citation Abstract

Search | Search by Center | Search by Source | Keywords in Title

Effects of hospital procedure volume and resident training on clinical outcomes and resource use in radical retropubic prostatectomy surgery in the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Ku TS, Kane CJ, Sen S, Henderson WG, Dudley RA, Cason BA. Effects of hospital procedure volume and resident training on clinical outcomes and resource use in radical retropubic prostatectomy surgery in the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Journal of urology. 2008 Jan 1; 179(1):272-8; discussion 278-9.

Related HSR&D Project(s)

Dimensions for VA is a web-based tool available to VA staff that enables detailed searches of published research and research projects.

If you have VA-Intranet access, click here for more information vaww.hsrd.research.va.gov/dimensions/

VA staff not currently on the VA network can access Dimensions by registering for an account using their VA email address.
   Search Dimensions for VA for this citation
* Don't have VA-internal network access or a VA email address? Try searching the free-to-the-public version of Dimensions



Abstract:

PURPOSE: In this retrospective cohort study we used data from the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program of the Veterans Health Administration to examine the effect of case volume and resident participation on radical retropubic prostatectomy outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study population included 5,736 patients who underwent radical retropubic prostatectomy in Veterans Administration hospitals between October 1, 2001 and September 30, 2004. Resource related outcomes included operative times and length of stay. Clinical outcomes included blood transfusion, complications, readmissions and reoperations. Hierarchical multivariate regression models were developed to predict outcomes. Risk adjustment was performed using patient chronic health factors and results of preoperative laboratory testing. RESULTS: A total of 5,070 radical retropubic prostatectomy surgeries met inclusion criteria. After adjustment for case mix, academic training institutions had longer operative times (3.2 vs 2.4 hours, p < 0.01) but shorter length of stay (3.4 vs 4.2 days, p < 0.01). Surgery at academic institutions was not associated with greater risk of transfusion (p = 0.36), reoperation (p = 0.93), complications (p = 0.53) or readmissions (p = 0.97). However, among the academic institutions low vs high hospital radical retropubic prostatectomy volume was associated with longer length of stay (3.7 vs 3.1 days, p = 0.02) and higher transfusion rate (29.6% vs 18.2%, p = 0.02). Substantial clustering of outcomes at the hospital level was observed. CONCLUSIONS: Within the Veterans Administration system academic training institutions have longer operative times for radical retropubic prostatectomy, but shorter length of stay. Among the same institutions, high volume hospitals tend to have lower transfusion rates and shorter length of stay. Clustering of outcomes at the hospital level suggests that unmeasured institutional factors are key determinants of clinical and resource related outcomes.





Questions about the HSR website? Email the Web Team

Any health information on this website is strictly for informational purposes and is not intended as medical advice. It should not be used to diagnose or treat any condition.