Influence of procedural volume on the outcome of gastric endoscopic submucosal dissection: A nationwide population-based study using administrative data

Abstract

Background & Aims

Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is a well-established treatment modality for gastric neoplasms. We aimed to investigate the effect of procedural volume on the outcome of ESD for gastric cancer or adenoma.

Methods

In this population-based cohort study, patients who underwent ESD for gastric cancer or adenoma from November 2011 to December 2017 were identified using the Korean National Health Insurance Service database. Operational definitions to identify the target population and post-procedural complications were created using diagnosis and procedure codes and were validated using hospital medical record data. Outcomes included hemorrhage, perforation, pneumonia, 30-day mortality, a composite outcome comprising all these adverse outcomes, and additional resection. Hospital volume was categorized into three groups based on the results of the threshold analysis: high-, medium-, low-volume centers (HVCs, MVCs, and LVCs, respectively). Inverse probability of treatment (IPT) weighting analysis was applied to enhance comparability across the volume groups.

Results

There were 94,246 procedures performed in 88,687 patients during the study period. There were 5,886 composite events including 4,925 hemorrhage, 447 perforation, and 703 pneumonia cases. There were significant differences in ESD-related adverse outcomes among the three hospital volume categories, showing that HVCs and MVCs were associated with a lower risk of a composite outcome than LVCs (IPT-weighted odds ratio (OR), 0.651, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.521–0.814; IPT-weighted OR, 0.641, 95% CI, 0.534–0.769). Similar tendencies were also shown for hemorrhage, perforation, and pneumonia; however, these were not evident for additional resection.

Conclusion

Procedural volume was closely associated with clinical outcome in patients undergoing ESD for gastric cancer or adenoma.