General Surgery Resident Operative Experiences in Solid Organ Injury: An Examination of Case Logs

Background Non-operative management (NOM) of traumatic solid organ injury (SOI) has become commonplace. This paradigm shift, along with reduced resident work hours, has significantly impacted surgical residents’ operative trauma experiences. We examined ongoing changes in residents’ operative SOI experience since duty hour restriction implementation, and assessed whether missed operative experiences were gained elsewhere in the resident experience. Methods We examined data from American College of Graduate Medical Education case log reports from 2003 to 2018. We collected mean case volumes in the categories of non-operative trauma, trauma laparotomy, and splenic, hepatic, and pancreatic trauma operations; case volumes for comparable non-traumatic solid organ operations were also collected. Solid organ injury operative volumes were compared against non-traumatic cases, and change over time was analyzed. Results Over the study period, both trauma laparotomies and non-operative traumas increased significantly ( P < .001). In contrast, operative volumes for splenic, hepatic, and pancreatic trauma all significantly decreased ( P < .001; P = .014; P < .001, respectively). Non-traumatic spleen cases also significantly decreased ( P < .001), but liver cases and distal pancreatectomies increased ( P < .001; P = .017). Pancreaticoduodenectomies increased, albeit not to a significant degree ( P = .052). Conclusions Continuing increases in NOM of SOI correlate with declining resident experience with operative solid organ trauma. These decreases can adversely affect residents’ technical skills and decision-making, although trends in specific non-traumatic areas may help to mitigate such losses. Further work should determine the impact of these trends on resident competence and autonomy.

Trends of core versus subspecialty operative procedures completed in general surgery residency training programs

IntroductionGeneral surgery residency involves performing subspecialty procedures in addition to the core general procedures. However, the proportion of core general surgery versus subspecialty procedures during training is variable and its temporal changes are unknown. The goal of our study was to assess the current trends in core general surgery and subspecialty procedure distributions during general surgery residency training.MethodsData were collected from the ACGME core general surgery national resident available report case logs from 2007 to 2019. Descriptive and time series analyses were used to compare proportions of average procedures performed per resident in the core general surgery category versus the subspecialty category. F-tests were conducted to show whether the slopes of the trend lines were significantly non-zero.ResultsThe mean of total procedures completed for major credit by the average general surgery resident increased from 910.1 (SD=30.31) in 2007 to 1070.5 (SD=37.59) in 2019. Over that same period, the number of general, cardiothoracic, plastic and urology surgery procedures increased by 24.9%, 9.8%, 76.6% and 19.3%, respectively. Conversely, vascular and paediatric surgery procedures decreased by 7.6% and 30.7%, respectively. The neurological surgery procedures remain stable at 1.1 procedures per resident per year. A significant positive correlation in the trend reflecting total (p<0.0001), general (p<0.0001) and plastic (p<0.0016) surgery procedures and the negative correlation in the trend lines for vascular (p<0.0006) and paediatric (p<0.0001) surgery procedures were also noted.ConclusionsTrends in overall surgical case volume performed by general surgery residents over the last 12 years have shown a steady increase in operative training opportunity despite the increasing number of subspecialty training programmes and fellowships. Further research to identify areas for improvement and to study the diversity of operative procedures, and their outcomes is warranted in the years to come.

An ACGME-based comparison of neurosurgical and orthopedic resident training in adult spine surgery via a case volume and hours-based analysis

OBJECTIVE In a 2014 analysis of orthopedic and neurological surgical case logs published by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), it was reported that graduating neurosurgery residents performed more than twice the number of spinal procedures in their training compared with graduating orthopedic residents. There has, however, been no follow-up assessment of this trend. Moreover, whether this gap in case volume equates to a similar gap in procedural hours has remained unstudied. Given the association between surgical volume and outcomes, evaluating the status of this disparity has value. Here, the authors assess trends in case volume and procedural hours in adult spine surgery for graduating orthopedic and neurological surgery residents from 2014 to 2019. METHODS A retrospective analysis of ACGME case logs from 2014 to 2019 for graduating orthopedic and neurological surgery residents was conducted for adult spine surgeries. Case volume was converted to operative hours by using periprocedural times from the 2019 Medicare/Medicaid Physician Fee Schedule. Graduating residents’ spinal cases and hours, averaged over the study period, were compared between the two specialties by using 2-tailed Welch’s unequal variances t-tests (α = 0.05). Longitudinal trends in each metric were assessed by linear regression followed by cross-specialty comparisons via tests for equality of slopes. RESULTS From 2014 to 2019, graduating neurosurgical residents logged 6.8 times as many spinal cases as their orthopedic counterparts, accruing 431.6 (95% CI 406.49–456.61) and 63.8 (95% CI 57.08–70.56) cases (p < 0.001), respectively. Accordingly, graduating neurosurgical residents logged 6.1 times as many spinal procedural hours as orthopedic surgery residents, accruing 1020.7 (95% CI 964.70–1076.64) and 166.6 (95% CI 147.76–185.35) hours (p < 0.001), respectively. Over these 5 years, both fields saw a linear increase in graduating residents’ adult spinal case volumes and procedural hours, and these growth rates were higher for neurosurgery (+16.2 cases/year vs +4.4 cases/year, p < 0.001; +36.4 hours/year vs +12.4 hours/year, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Graduating neurosurgical residents accumulated substantially greater adult spinal case volumes and procedural hours than their orthopedic counterparts from 2014 to 2019. This disparity has been widened by a higher rate of growth in adult spinal cases among neurosurgery residents. Accordingly, targeted efforts to increase spinal exposure for orthopedic surgery residents—such as using cross-specialty collaboration—should be explored.

Trends in Ophthalmology Resident Operative Experience and the Early Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Purpose This study aimed to evaluate trends in ophthalmology resident operative experience and the early impact of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Design Present study is a retrospective analysis of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Case Log System. Participants Anonymized graduating resident case logs from 2011 to 2020 academic years (AYs) were examined for this study. Methods Regression analysis for each procedure category was performed to identify trends between 2011 and 2019 AYs. Unpaired two-tailed t-test compared 2018 to 2019 and 2019 to 2020 AY's for each category surgeon (S) and as surgeon and assistant (S + A). Main Outcome Measures Mean and median cases as (S) and (S + A) during 2011 to 2019 AYs. Comparison between 2018 to 2019 and 2019 to 2020 AY's for each category as (S) and (S + A) to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results Total ophthalmology procedures as (S) rose from a mean of 479.6 to 601.3 (p < 0.001; R 2 = 0.96; Δ/year = 16.9) and a median of 444 to 537 (p < 0.001; R 2 = 0.97; Δ/year = 13.1). Total procedures as (S + A) rose from a mean of 698.1 to 768 (p < 0.01; R 2 = 0.83; Δ/year = 9.07) and a median of 677 to 734 (p < 0.05; R 2 = 0.61; Δ/year = 6.64). Cataract procedures as (S) rose from a mean of 152.8 to 208 (p < 0.001; R 2 = 0.99; Δ/year = 7.98) and a median of 146 to 197 (p < 0.001; R 2 = 0.97; Δ/year = 7.87). Cataract procedures as both (S + A) rose from a mean 231.4 to 268.7 (p < 0.001; R 2 = 0.95; Δ/year = 5.5) and a median of 213 to 254 (p < 0.001; R 2 = 0.93; Δ/year = 5.33). Between 2018 to 2019 and 2019 to 2020 AYs, the first pandemic year was associated with significant reductions in total procedures (601.3–533.7 [p < 0.0001]) as (S) and 768.0 to 694.4 (p < 0.0001) as (S + A), cataract surgery (208–162.2 [p < 0.0001]) as (S) and 268.7 to 219.1 (p < 0.0001) as (S + A), and glaucoma surgery (16.3–14.2 [p = 0.0068]) as (S) and 25.6 to 22.6 (p = 0.0063) as (S + A). Conclusion During 2011 to 2019 AYs, cataract, intravitreal injections, glaucoma, and total procedures increased significantly. During the early period of the COVID-19 pandemic (2019–2020 AY), national halting of elective procedures had a precipitous effect on resident cataract surgery experience to volumes similar to 2013 to 2014 AY where the mean was twice the current required minimum number. With few exceptions, other procedure volumes remained stable.