Evolving Patterns of Vascular Surgery Care in the United States: A Report from the American Board of Surgery

Background The purpose of this study was to analyze the distribution of major vascular procedures among general and vascular surgeons and to compare the evolution of vascular surgical practice of general and vascular surgeons at specific points in their careers. Study Design Case logs of surgeons seeking recertification in surgery from 2007 to 2009 were reviewed. Data from 3,362 physicians certified only in surgery (GS) were compared with 363 additionally certified in vascular surgery (VS). Independent variables were compared using factorial ANOVA. Results The mean numbers of major vascular procedures (±SD) were 10 ± 51 for GS and 192 ± 209 for VS (p Conclusions The majority of GS currently do not perform any major vascular procedures, and younger GS are performing fewer such procedures than their older counterparts. The opposite is true for VS. These opposing trends indicate that vascular procedures are shifting from GS to VS in modern surgical practice, and this may have important implications for patient access to vascular surgery care, considering the limited capacity for VS to assume the excess case load.