Despite concerns that resident involvement in operations might pose a risk to the patient, the inclusion of general surgery residents in high-risk surgery cases does not negatively impact outcomes, according to a database study of more than 25,000 patients.
Adrienne N. Cobb, MD, of Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, Ill., and her colleagues used the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP) database (2005-2012) to identify all patients undergoing any of six high-risk procedures on an elective basis.
Dr. Cobb and her colleagues compared outcomes for 25,363 patients who had procedures with and without resident participation: 4,018 and 21,345 patients, respectively. They also evaluated selected outcomes by postgraduate year (PGY). Junior residents were considered as PGY 1-2, senior residents were considered PGY 3, 4, and 5, and participants were considered fellows if they were PGY 6 or higher, according to their report published in the Journal of Surgical Research.
The six procedures assessed were esophagectomy (1,233 patients), open abdominal aortic aneurysm repair (162), laparoscopic paraesophageal resection with Nissen fundoplication (2,316), pancreaticoduodenectomy (Whipple, 10,309), abdominoperineal resection (2,003), and hepatectomy (9,329).
The primary outcome of the study was 30-day mortality with the exposure being resident involvement. Secondary outcomes that had complications included superficial and deep surgical site infection, wound disruption, bleeding requiring transfusion, return to the operating room, pneumonia, unplanned reintubation, pulmonary embolism, acute renal failure, stroke, MI, sepsis, urinary tract infection (UTI), and deep vein thrombosis, operative time, and length of stay.
In both univariate and multivariate analysis, there were no significant differences in mortality between patients who did or did not have procedures in which resident participation at any level of training was involved.
Overall, resident participation did increase the odds of a prolonged operative time (odds ratio, 1.5; 95% confidence interval, 1.1-2.1). Only abdominal perineal resection showed an increased odds risk of having a prolonged operation when residents were involved (OR, 4.3; 95% CI, 1.1-4.8). With regard to these results, the authors commented: “We assert that the additional time spent with trainees in the OR is integral to the production of confident and competent surgeons and does not lead to poorer outcomes for patients. It may, however, lead to increasing costs for the hospital and the patient.”
When risk-adjusted odds were calculated for all the other secondary outcomes and postoperative outcomes tested, UTI was the only one to show a negative impact when residents were involved (OR, 2.3; 95% CI, 1.1-4.8).
The study limitations include the age of the data and the limited number of procedures evaluated, and thus might not be generalizable to a more modern era and other procedures, according to the authors.
“Apart from UTI rates, resident participation did not significantly increase patient morbidity or mortality. Residents should continue to be given active and engaging roles in the OR, even in the most challenging cases,” Dr. Cobb and her colleagues concluded.
The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health. The authors reported that they had no disclosures.
SOURCE: Cobb AN et al. J Surg Res. 2018 Dec; 232:308-17.