Value of individual surgeon performance metrics as quality assurance measures in oesophagogastric cancer surgery

BACKGROUND: Surgeon-level operative mortality is widely seen as a measure of quality after gastric and oesophageal resection. This study aimed to evaluate this alongside a compound-level outcome analysis. METHODS: Consecutive patients who underwent treatment including surgery delivered by a multidisciplinary team, which included seven specialist surgeons, were studied. The primary outcome was death within 30 days of surgery; secondary outcomes were anastomotic leak, Clavien-Dindo morbidity score, lymph node harvest, circumferential resection margin (CRM) status, disease-free (DFS), and overall (OS) survival. RESULTS: The median number of annual resections per surgeon was 10 (range 5-25), compared with 14 (5-25) for joint consultant teams (P = 0.855). The median annual surgeon-level mortality rate was 0 (0-9) per cent versus an overall network annual operative mortality rate of 1.8 (0-3.7) per cent. Joint consultant team procedures were associated with fewer operative deaths (0.5 per cent versus 3.4 per cent at surgeon level; P = 0.027). The median surgeon anastomotic leak rate was 12.4 (range 9-20) per cent (P = 0.625 versus the whole surgical range), overall morbidity 46.5 (31-60) per cent (P = 0.066), lymph node harvest 16 (9-29) (P < 0.001), CRM positivity 32.0 (16-46) per cent (P = 0.003), 5-year DFS rate 44.8 (29-60) per cent and OS rate 46.5 (35-53) per cent. No designated metrics were independently associated with DFS or OS in multivariable analysis. CONCLUSION: Annual surgeon-level metrics demonstrated wide variations (fivefold), but these performance metrics were not associated with survival.