title: Quality of medical care in colorectal cancer in Germany.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To investigate recent developments in therapeutic approaches, we examine the quality of and discuss current trends in the routine treatment of colorectal cancer in Germany.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a prospective, multicentre, country-wide observational study in Germany at a representative number of hospitals providing care at all levels.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The perioperative morbidity and mortality rates were found not to have changed for a given risk profile of patient and tumour characteristics. The resection rates and long-term oncological results achieved in clinical routine are comparable with those reported in the current literature for colorectal cancer. The quality of care of rectal carcinoma patients has improved significantly, as measured by perioperative oncosurgical criteria (abdominoperineal resection rate, total mesorectal excision rate and quality, and proportion of neoadjuvant procedures).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  At present, it remains to be seen whether these factors will lead to a further improvement in long-term results (e.g. rates of local recurrence), and this will require further critical analysis.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Quality Control in Operative Medicine, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Leipziger Strasse 44, Magdeburg, Germany. rainer.kube@med.ovgu.de
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kube
authors.forename: Henry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ptok
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wolff
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lippert
authors.forename: Ingo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gastinger
mesh_terms: D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000401:mortality* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000401:mortality*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D015995:Prevalence; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome