Mortality Down for Rectal Cancer Surgery at NAPRC-Accredited Hospitals

FRIDAY, April 19, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- National Accreditation Program for Rectal Cancer (NAPRC)-accredited hospitals have lower risk-adjusted mortality and morbidity for patients undergoing major rectal cancer surgery, according to a study published online March 28 in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

Calista M. Harbaugh, M.D., from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and colleagues conducted a retrospective, observational study of Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 to 99 years with rectal cancer who underwent proctectomy from 2017 to 2020. The primary exposure was NAPRC accreditation; primary outcomes included mortality and 30-day complications, readmissions, and reoperations.

Sixty-five of the 1,985 hospitals (3.3 percent) were NAPRC-accredited. The researchers found that 10 percent of the 20,202 patients underwent proctectomy at an accredited hospital. The likelihood of having an elective procedure with a minimally invasive approach and sphincter preservation was higher for patients at accredited hospitals. Compared with nonaccredited hospitals, accredited hospitals had significantly lower risk-adjusted in-hospital mortality (1.1 versus 1.3 percent), 30-day mortality (2.1 versus 2.9 percent), 30-day complications (18.3 versus 19.4 percent), and one-year mortality rates (11.0 versus 12.1 percent).

"These results suggest that NAPRC hospitals provide safer surgical care, despite the fact that NAPRC standards do not directly address surgical safety," the authors write.

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