Disparities in the surgical treatment of colorectal liver metastases.
BACKGROUND
Hepatectomy is an accepted standard of care for patients with resectable colorectal liver metastases (CLM). Given that it is unclear whether disparities exist between different patient populations, a population-based analysis was performed to analyze this issue with regards to resection rates and surgical mortality in patients with CLM.


METHODS
Using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample, characteristics and outcomes of adult patients with a diagnosis of colorectal cancer and colorectal metastases that subsequently underwent a liver resection during the years 1993-2007 were identified. Multivariate analysis was used to determine the effects of demographic and clinical covariables on resection rates and in-hospital mortality.


RESULTS
Incident colorectal and liver metastases were identified in 138,565 patients; 3,528 patients (2.6%) underwent subsequent resection. African American and Hispanic race were associated with lower resection rates compared to Caucasian patients (adjusted OR 0.61 (0.52 - 0.71) and 0.81 (0.68 - 0.96) respectively). Medicaid insurance was associated with decreased resection rates compared to private insurance (AOR 0.47 (0.40 - 0.56)). The overall inpatient mortality rate was 3.1%. Multivariate analysis determined that mortality rate was correlated to both insurance status and geographic region.


CONCLUSIONS
The national resection rate is significantly lower than has been reported by most case series. Race and insurance status appear to be correlated to the likelihood of surgical resection. In-hospital mortality is equivalent to the rates reported elsewhere, but is correlated to insurance status and region.
Division of Surgical Oncology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, 910 Madison Avenue, Suite 303 - Memphis, TN 38163, USA. gmunene@UTHSC.edu
Gitonga
G
Munene
Robyn D
RD
Parker
Abdel Aziz
AA
Shaheen
Robert P
RP
Myers
May Lynn
ML
Quan
Chad G
CG
Ball
Elijah
E
Dixon
D000368:Aged; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006498:Hepatectomy / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate / Q000639:trends; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology