National trends in outcomes for esophageal resection

Case-series reports from tertiary centers report improved outcomes for esophageal resection in recent years. The objective of the current study was to determine trends in short-term outcomes after esophageal resection in a representative sample of United States (US) hospitals.

Observational study of all adult patients in the Nationwide Inpatient Sample who underwent esophageal resection from 1988 to 2000 (N = 8,657). Temporal trends of in-hospital mortality and prolonged length of stay were determined. Analyses were performed for all hospitals after stratifying by hospital volume. The proportion of patients having surgery at high volume hospitals was used to assess changes in referral patterns.

The overall mortality rate was 11.3% and revealed a modest but significant decline from 13.6% to 10.5% during the study period (p = 0.001). Low volume hospitals had markedly higher mortality rates and showed no improvement over time (15.3% vs 14.5%). In contrast, high volume hospitals indicated significant reduction in mortality over time (11.0% vs 7.5%, p = 0.003). Referral patterns changed over time with the proportion of esophageal resections performed at high volume hospitals increasing from 40% (1988 to 1991) to 57% (1997 to 2000).

The operative mortality rate for esophageal resection has declined over the past 13 years, particularly at high volume hospitals. Efforts should be made to understand the processes of care underlying this improvement.