[Topics and focuses of clinical studies in gastroenterological surgery]

High-quality clinical research offers the opportunity to exert a direct influence on medical decision-making. To take stock of the current situation in clinical gastroenterological surgery, a questionnaire was sent to 171 surgical departments focussing on visceral surgery. Of the 93 that responded, 45.2% conducted a total of 91 clinical studies. Only 8.8% of these were described as prospective randomized clinical studies; 60% were single-center studies. The studies were financed from the department budget in 60 cases, supported by industry in 27 cases and funded by independent institutions such as German Research Foundation or the Federal Ministry for Education and Research in 4 cases. Of the researchers performing the studies, 7.7% had been exempted from other duties and 92.8% were additionally involved in the clinical routine. The majority of the clinical studies in Germany deal with diseases of the esophagus and pancreas or with chronic inflammatory bowel diseases. The old and new states of the Federal Republic of Germany show no appreciable differences in the development and performance of clinical studies.