National Practice Patterns and Outcomes of Pediatric Nephrectomy: Comparison between Urology and General Surgery

Purpose: In adults nephrectomy is under the purview of urologists, but pediatric urologists and pediatric general surgeons perform extirpative renal surgery in children. We compared the contemporary performance and outcome of all-cause nephrectomy at pediatric hospitals as performed by pediatric urologists and pediatric general surgeons.Materials and Methods: We queried the Pediatric Health Information System to identify patients 0 to 18 years old who were treated with nephrectomy between 2004 and 2013 by pediatric urologists and pediatric general surgeons. Data points included age, gender, severity level, mortality risk, complications and length of stay. Patients were compared by APR DRG codes 442 (kidney and urinary tract procedures for malignancy) and 443 (kidney and urinary tract procedures for nonmalignancy).Results: Pediatric urologists performed more all-cause nephrectomies. While pediatric urologists were more likely to operate on patients with benign renal disease, pediatric general surgeons were...