Impact of hospital institutional volume on postoperative mortality after major emergency colorectal surgery in English National Health Service Trusts, 2001 to 2005

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of institutional volume on postoperative mortality in patients undergoing emergency major colorectal surgical procedures in England between 2001 and 2005.

Methods: All of the emergency excisional colorectal procedures performed between the above dates were included from the Hospital Episode Statistics data set. Institutions were divided into high-, medium-, and low-volume tertiles according to the total major emergency colorectal caseload.

Results: During the study period, 37,094 emergency excisional colorectal procedures were performed in 166 English National Health Service institutions. Overall 30-day postoperative mortality was 15.49%, increasing to 29.18% at 1 year after surgery. Overall 30- and 365-day mortality rates were similar among institutional volume tertiles (P > .05) after adjustment for age, sex, social deprivation, diagnosis, procedure type, and comorbidity score.

Conclusion: Hospital Episode Statistics data suggest that institutions with high volumes of emergency colorectal caseload do not demonstrate lower mortality after emergency major excisional colorectal surgery.