Patterns of Performance of Oncologic Surgery by North American Pediatric Urologists: A Report from the Pediatric Urologic Oncology Working Group of the Society for Pediatric Urology

International Publication Patterns on Operative Management of Wilms Tumor: A Review by Surgeon Specialty and Surgical Modality

OBJECTIVE

To review the temporal trends in the published literature of the surgical management of Wilms tumor (WT) relative to surgical modality and authorship by surgeon specialty (pediatric urology [PU] vs pediatric surgery [PS]).

METHODS

The MEDLINE/PubMed database was queried for manuscripts published by PU or PS including operative management of WT from 1993-2017. After manuscript review, 187 of 2420 studies were included. Studies were compared by author specialty, country of origin, and represented patients.

RESULTS

PU published 32% of included publications. The proportion of first author publications by PU increased over time (25% from 1993-2005 to 39% from 2006-2017, P = .029). While PU were first author on 44% of studies in North America, they were relatively underrepresented internationally. PU and PS were equally likely to be first author on cooperative group studies, which accounted for 19% of the overall publications. 14,958 patients underwent extirpative surgery for WT. There was a small increase in publications reporting the use of minimally-invasive surgery (MIS) and nephron-sparing surgery (NSS) over time (<1% and 4% from 1993-2005 to 2% and 7% from 2006-2017, respectively, P <.001). Compared to PS, PU were significantly more likely to publish on patients managed with MIS and NSS (P = .006 and P < 0.001 respectively).

CONCLUSION

Publications by PU on the surgical management of WT are increasing over time, but are still fewer than PS. PU appeared to be the drivers of the temporal trend towards the increasing use of MIS and NSS in the published literature.

A Contemporary Analysis of Pediatric Urology Surgical Volume at a Tertiary Care Center

OBJECTIVE

To describe the annual volume of pediatric urology cases in an academic, tertiary care setting.

METHODS

A retrospective review was performed of all patients operated on by 4 pediatric urologists (total of 2.5 full-time equivalents) at an academic, tertiary care center with a free-standing children's hospital from 2016 to 2017 (24 months). Basic case information was collected from operative reports. Descriptive statistics are reported using nonparametric methods. "Uncommon" was defined a priori as occurring <10% of the time.

RESULTS

During the entire study period, 2718 patients underwent 4580 procedures. This equated to 1088 patients and 1832 procedures per full-time equivalent. Median age at surgery was 3.2 years (IQR 0.8-10) and 757 (16.5%) of patients were female. Most procedures were elective (4406, 96.2%) and did not require postoperative admission (3842, 83.9%). Urgent and emergent cases were uncommon (174, 3.8%). Most cases were classified as general pediatric urology (3894, 85%) with 319 (7%) classified as major reconstruction, 275 (6%) as laparoscopy/endourology and 92 (2%) as oncology. The most common cases involved the groin/scrotum (1415, 30.9%), prepuce (809, 17.7%), phallus (802, 17.5%), and endoscopy (652, 14.2%). All other case types were uncommon.

CONCLUSION

This description of an academic pediatric urology practice at a tertiary care center with a free-standing children's hospital noted a high volume of elective, outpatient procedures that are largely general pediatric urology. Uncommon cases include urgent/emergent interventions, major reconstruction, laparoscopy/endourology, and oncology procedures.

Current state of renal tumor surgery among pediatric surgeons and pediatric urologists: A survey of American Pediatric Surgical Association (APSA) and Society for Pediatric Urology (SPU) members

INTRODUCTION

Anecdotally, renal tumor (RT) surgery makes up a limited portion of the practice for most pediatric urologists and pediatric surgeons. Data are lacking on the current perceptions of RT surgery, both volume of surgery and issues related to surgical practice, among pediatric surgeons (PS) and pediatric urologists (PU).

OBJECTIVES

To describe practice patterns of pediatric renal tumor (RT) surgery and identify factors related to higher reported volumes of RT surgery.

STUDY DESIGN

The survey was developed and pilot-tested by the Children's Oncology Group (COG) RT surgery committee. The survey was distributed to APSA and SPU members. Logistic regression was performed to correlate surgeon-reported factors with higher reported volumes of RT surgery.

RESULTS

The survey was sent to 1,282 APSA and 426 SPU members, 367 (21.5%) surveys were completed from eligible responders, 244 (65.2%) and 123 (32.9%) from APSA and SPU invitations, respectively. Overall, 33.9% reported being part of a practice group in which RT surgical care is sub-specialized. A majority (50.7%) of respondents reported personally performing one to two RT surgeries annually, and 16.7% reported performing none. Multivariate logistic regression identified the following significant factors associated with increased individual RT surgical volume: group sub-specialization, COG/SIOP membership, regular tumor board attendance, and annual institutional volume >10 RT surgeries (Table). Accurate responses on the need for lymph node (LN) sampling in RT surgery were reported by 89.9%. Overall, 15.8% and 24.5% of respondents failed to correctly correlate local stage III disease in Wilms tumor (WT) with open or percutaneous biopsy, respectively (p < 0.001).

DISCUSSION

While we found that reported RT surgery volume is low among both pediatric urologists and surgeons, we did identify surgeon-specific factors which correlated with higher RT surgical volume. Interested pediatric urologists and surgeons may use these data to tailor their practice if their goal is to increase RT surgery volume. Additionally, based on less than ideal rates of correct responses to nuance in the staging and treatment of WT, there are clear opportunities to increase education in this content area. However, the study is limited by use of a non-validated survey instrument and the relatively low response rates.

CONCLUSION

Reported individual RT surgery volume is low. Factors associated with increased volume include sub-specialty practice, tumor board involvement, and higher institutional volume. Responses on LN sampling and biopsy in WT demonstrate opportunities for educational initiatives.