Patient-Reported Outcomes After Percutaneous Renal Ablation: Initial Experience

Area of Science:

• Urology
• Nephrology
• Medical Quality Improvement

Background:

• Renal tumor ablation is a minimally invasive treatment option.
• Assessing patient-reported outcomes (PROs) is crucial for evaluating treatment effectiveness and quality of care.
• The National Institutes of Health's Patient-Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS) offers validated tools for PRO assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess patient-reported outcomes following renal tumor ablation.
• To evaluate the feasibility of collecting PROs in a renal ablation practice.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective review of a pilot quality initiative involving 38 patients undergoing renal ablation.
• PROs including recovery, pain, physical well-being, social activities, and physical function were collected using PROMIS measures.
• Data were collected pre-ablation and at multiple time points post-ablation (days 1-7 and 30).

Main Results:

• Mean pain scores were low (1.8-2.6) in the days following ablation.
• Scores for physical well-being and social activities showed minimal decline.
• PROMIS scales for physical function and social activities demonstrated little change from baseline.
• Nearly 50% of patients reported full recovery by day 1, increasing to 89% by day 30.

Conclusions:

• Capturing patient-reported outcomes after renal ablation is feasible.
• PRO data can serve as a valuable tool for measuring quality in ablation practices.
• This information can enhance patient education regarding renal ablation treatments.