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Review
. 2022 Mar;14(3):779-787.
doi: 10.21037/jtd-21-1108.

Thoracic surgery in Spain

Gonzalo Varela  1 , Florentino Hernando-Trancho  2   3   4 , Pedro M Rodríguez Suárez  5   6   7 , Jose R Jarabo Sarceda  8   9 , Laureano Molins  10   11   12 , Leire Azcárate  13   3
Affiliations
Review

Thoracic surgery in Spain

Gonzalo Varela et al. J Thorac Dis. 2022 Mar.

Abstract

In this manuscript, we briefly report on the Spanish health care system and the current situation of Thoracic Surgery in the country. Our surgical speciality is approached in terms of national spread of thoracic units, education, technological development, and other relevant aspects. Thoracic Surgery national workforce is also reviewed and compared to sister specialities. Prospects and authors' recommendations for development are included. Total cost of public health care expenditure in Spain represents 9% of the gross domestic product (GDP) and the National Health System is included in the top ten more efficient systems in the World. Thoracic Surgery in Spain is an independent medical speciality. The access to training in accredited hospitals is uniformly regulated all around the country and represents the official and only route to certified medical specialization. 0.5 certified specialists in Thoracic Surgery per 100,000 habitants are working in the country, half of them being female in the age subset of 30-39. Currently, more than half of all anatomical resection in the country are performed via VATS. Seven centres are currently accredited by the Ministry of Health for lung transplantation, and the current rate of lung transplants is 7.1 per million of population. To note is the success of the non-heart-beating donors program developed in recent years. Three national professional and scientific societies are gathering most Spanish thoracic surgeons and promoting cooperative multidisciplinary studies on lung cancer and surgical techniques such are video-assisted and robotic lung resection. Implementing a national database of thoracic surgical procedures would be advisable to promote continuous clinical quality improvements.

Keywords: National development; lung transplant; robotic surgery; thoracic surgery.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: The authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (Available online https://jtd.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/jtd-21-1108/coif). The series “Thoracic Surgery Worldwide” was commissioned by the editorial office without any funding or sponsorship. The authors have no other conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Spanish demography 2015–2019.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Geographical distribution of Thoracic Surgery services in Spain (units per million of population).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Evolution of the rate of deceased donors per million of population in Spain (Source ONT, 2020).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Published originals in three top journals along the last ten years (Source PubMed).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Median rank of candidates to start training in thoracic and plastic surgery and total number of graduates in Medicine applying to MIR selection process (Data from the Spanish Ministry of Health, https://fse.mscbs.gob.es).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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