Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35819176›Full record

ArticleInfection control and hospital epidemiology2023

Combined laparoscopic and open colon surgery rankings fail to accurately rank hospitals by surgical-site infection rate.

Daniel A Caroff, Christina Chan, Ken Kleinman, Michael S Calderwood, Robert Wolf, Richard Platt, Susan S Huang

Open access · hybridAbstract readComparative Study
In one paragraph

Article in Infection control and hospital epidemiology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
1.0field-weighted citation impact, top 23% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.

Daniel A CaroffDepartment of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and the Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare Institute, Boston, Massachusetts.
Christina ChanDepartment of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and the Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare Institute, Boston, Massachusetts.ORCID 0000-0003-0028-3808
Ken KleinmanUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst School of Public Health and Health Sciences, Amherst, Massachusetts.
Michael S CalderwoodSection of Infectious Disease & International Health, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, New Hampshire.
Robert WolfDepartment of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and the Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare Institute, Boston, Massachusetts.
Richard PlattDepartment of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and the Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare Institute, Boston, Massachusetts.
Susan S HuangDepartment of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and the Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare Institute, Boston, Massachusetts.ORCID 0000-0001-6748-3447
Harvard University · USBoston University · USDartmouth–Hitchcock Medical Center · USLahey Hospital and Medical Center · USUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst · US

Funding

National Claims-Based Quality Measures for Surgical Site InfectionsR18HS021424 · AHRQ · HARVARD PILGRIM HEALTH CARE, INC. · PI PLATT, RICHARD · 2012 to 2016
$2.4M
AHRQ HHS R18 HS021424
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo compare strategies for hospital ranking based on colon surgical-site infection (SSI) rate by combining all colon procedures versus stratifying by surgical approach (ie, laparoscopic vs open).

designRetrospective cohort study.

methodsWe identified SSIs among Medicare beneficiaries undergoing colon surgery from 2009 through 2013 using previously validated methods. We created a risk prediction model for SSI using age, sex, race, comorbidities, surgical approach (laparoscopy vs open), and concomitant colon and noncolon procedures. Adjusted SSI rates were used to rank hospitals. Subanalyses were performed for common colon procedures and procedure types for which there were both open and laparoscopic procedures. We generated ranks using only open and only laparoscopic procedures, overall and for each subanalysis. Rankings were compared using a Spearman correlation coefficient.

resultsIn total, 694,813 colon procedures were identified among 508,135 Medicare beneficiaries. The overall SSI rate was 7.6%. The laparoscopic approach was associated with lower SSI risk (OR, 0.5; 95% CI, 0.4-0.5), and higher SSI risk was associated with concomitant abdominal surgeries (OR, 1.4; 95% CI, 1.4-1.5) and higher Elixhauser score (OR, 1.1; 95% CI, 1.0-1.1). Hospital rankings for laparascopic procedures were poorly correlated with rankings for open procedures (r = 0.23).

conclusionsHospital rankings based on total colon procedures fail to account for differences in SSI risk from laparoscopic vs open procedures. Stratifying rankings by surgical approach yields a more equitable comparison of surgical performance.

Indexed as

ColonHospitalsLaparoscopySurgical Wound InfectionHumansRetrospective Studies

Identifiers

PMID35819176
PMCPMC13046463
OpenAlexW4285076933

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.