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. 2020 Dec 16;8(12):2325967120967460.
doi: 10.1177/2325967120967460. eCollection 2020 Dec.

Resident Involvement in Arthroscopic Knee Surgery Is Not Associated With Increased Short-term Risk to Patients

Bryce A Basques  1 , Bryan M Saltzman  2 , Shane S Korber  3 , Ioanna K Bolia  3 , Erik N Mayer  4 , Bernard R Bach  1 , Nikhil N Verma  1 , Brian J Cole  1 , Alexander E Weber  3
Affiliations

Resident Involvement in Arthroscopic Knee Surgery Is Not Associated With Increased Short-term Risk to Patients

Bryce A Basques et al. Orthop J Sports Med. .

Abstract

Background: Whether resident involvement in surgical procedures affects intra- and/or postoperative outcomes is controversial.

Purpose/hypothesis: The purpose of this study was to compare operative time, adverse events, and readmission rate for arthroscopic knee surgery cases with and without resident involvement. We hypothesized that resident involvement would not negatively affect these variables.

Study design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3.

Methods: A retrospective review of the prospectively maintained National Surgical Quality Improvement Program was performed. Patients who underwent arthroscopic knee surgery between 2005 and 2012 were identified. Multivariate Poisson regression with robust error variance was used to compare the rates of postoperative adverse events and readmission within 30 days between cases with and without resident involvement. Multivariate linear regression was used to compare operative time between cohorts. Because of multiple statistical comparisons, a Bonferroni correction was used, and statistical significance was set at P < .004.

Results: A total of 29,539 patients who underwent arthroscopic knee surgery were included in the study, and 11.3% of these patients had a resident involved with the case. The overall rate of adverse events was 1.62%. On multivariate analysis, resident involvement was not associated with increased rates of adverse events or readmission. Resident cases had a mean 6-minute increase in operative time (P < .001).

Conclusion: Overall, resident involvement in arthroscopic knee surgery was not associated with an increased risk of adverse events or readmission. Resident involvement was associated with only a mean increased operative time of 6 minutes, a difference that is not likely to be clinically significant. These results support the safety of resident involvement with arthroscopic knee surgery.

Keywords: NSQIP; arthroscopy; knee; resident; safety; training.

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Conflict of interest statement

One or more of the authors has declared the following potential conflict of interest or source of funding: B.A.B. has received hospitality payments from Stryker and Aesculap. B.M.S. has received educational support from Medwest, Peerless Surgical, and Smith & Nephew as well as grant support from Arthrex. N.N.V. has received consulting fees from Smith & Nephew, Medacta, and Arthrex; speaking fees from Pacira and Arthrex; and royalties from Smith & Nephew. B.J.C. has received educational support from Medwest; consulting fees from Arthrex, Genzyme, Pacira Pharmaceuticals, Anika Therapeutics, Vericel, Zimmer Biomet, Bioventus, Geistlich Pharma, Smith & Nephew, Acumed, and Flexion Therapeutics; speaking fees from Arthrex, Carticept Medical, Pacira Pharmaceuticals, and Lifenet Health; hospitality payments from GE Healthcare; honoraria from Vericel; and royalties from Arthrex and DJO. A.E.W. has received educational support from Arthrex and Smith & Nephew, speaking fees from Arthrex, and hospitality payments from Stryker. AOSSM checks author disclosures against the Open Payments Database (OPD). AOSSM has not conducted an independent investigation on the OPD and disclaims any liability or responsibility relating thereto.

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