Title: Surgeons Performing More Than 10.4 Shoulder Replacements per Year Have Lower Rates of Revision Surgery and Adverse Events, New Study Finds
The volume of work that surgeons have is associated with the final results of patients in different procedures, as confirmed by scientific evidence. Now, a new study reports a relationship between physicians who averaged more than 10.4 shoulder replacements per year with lower rates of revision surgery and reoperation, as well as with lower risk of serious adverse events and with shorter hospital stays.
The conclusions of this study, recently published in The BMJ, have been based on 39,281 shoulder replacement procedures performed by 638 consultant surgeons in 416 surgical units in the UK. The goal set by the researchers is to examine the association between the mean annual volume of a surgeon and the risk of adverse outcomes for the patient. The conclusions indicate that the minimum volume threshold is 10.4 procedures per year; below this number, the risk of revision surgery is significantly increased.
And greater surgical volume mean annual is linked, on the contrary, with fewer serious adverse events, that is, medical complications that may require hospitalization or death; and with shorter hospital stays. “The study findings indicate that the average annual volume during a surgeon’s career appears to be more important than the annual change in volume,” the analysis adds.
These data may have implications for both physicians and managers, according to the publication. “The results provide timely evidence for overstretched health care systems, with insufficient resources and who need recovery planning after the Covid-19 pandemic”, the document explains. Therefore, this analysis can be used by local hospitals and national health services to “guarantee the best results for this type of patients” while providing evidence to reduce the health burden in the short term by minimizing complications and hospital stays.
Increase in shoulder replacement operations
Shoulder replacement, as pointed out in this study, is a surgical treatment option used in arthritis end-stage shoulder. Every year, only in the United Kingdom, more than 8,000 operations are carried out of this type and the numbers are expected to continue to rise. The global incidence of replacements is increasing rapidly with some countries reporting an increase of up to 17 times in the last decade.
Population demographic changes in terms of age, sex, and obesity cause it to be predicted that this type of procedures will increase.
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