Clinicians who perform more surgeries on average over a year deliver better health outcomes to patients, a new study has found.
The findings come from researchers at the University of Oxford who analysed almost 40,000 elective shoulder replacements between 2012 and 2020.
The researchers found that if patients had their shoulder replacements performed by a surgeon who typically did more than 10 of those operations a year, they were:
- 53% less likely to need follow-up surgery
- 40% and 37% less likely to suffer a serious adverse events after one month and three months respectively
- 62% less likely to need a prolonged stay in hospital
NIHR doctoral research fellow and study author, Epaminondas Markos Valsamis, said: “Improving outcomes and reducing complications after joint replacement surgery is of clear benefit to patients and their families.
“This study offers evidence for local hospitals and national healthcare services that informs workforce and resource planning to ensure the best outcomes for patients undergoing shoulder replacement surgery.”
Although the research team hope the results can guide future practice, they also highlighted that their study specifications weren’t perfect with some unmeasured factors possibly influencing the outcomes.
The researchers benchmarked the effect of annual surgeon volume on:
- Revision
- Reoperation within 12 months
- Serious adverse events at 30 days and 90 days
- Prolonged hospital stay – over three nights
The study was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR); supported by the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre and the National Joint Registry; and published in the British Medical Journal.
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