title: [Hospital variation in anastomotic leakage after rectal cancer surgery in the Spanish Association of Surgeons project: The contribution of hospital volume].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This multicentre observational study aimed to determine the anastomotic leak rate in the hospitals included in the Rectal Cancer Project of the Spanish Society of Surgeons and examine whether hospital volume may contribute to any variation between hospitals.
  
  
  METHODS
  Hospital variation was quantified using a multilevel approach on prospective data derived from the multicentre database of all adenocarcinomas of the rectum operated by an anterior resection at 84 surgical departments from 2006 to 2013. The following variables were included in the analysis; demographics, American Society of Anaesthesiologists classification, use of defunctioning stoma, tumour location and stage, administration of neoadjuvant treatment, and annual volume of elective surgical procedures.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 7231 consecutive patients were included. The rate of anastomotic leak was 10.0%. Stratified by annual surgical volume hospitals varied from 9.9 to 11.3%. In multilevel regression analysis, the risk of anastomotic leak increased in male patients, in patients with tumours located below 12 cm from the anal verge, and advanced tumour stages. However, a defunctioning stoma seemed to prevent this complication. Hospital surgical volume was not associated with anastomotic leak (OR: 0.852, [0.487-1.518]; P=.577). Furthermore, there was a statistically significant variation in anastomotic leak between all departments (MOR: 1.475; [1.321-1.681]; P<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Anastomotic leak varies significantly among hospitals included in the project and this difference cannot be attributed to the annual surgical volume.
authors.affiliation: Departamento Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Pública de Navarra, Pamplona, España. Electronic address: hhortiz@telefonica.net.
authors.forename: Héctor
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ortiz
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Coloproctología, Departamento de Cirugía, Hospital Universitario de Bellvitge, Barcelona, España.
authors.forename: Sebastiano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Biondo
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Coloproctología, Departamento de Cirugía, Hospital Universitario Josep Trueta, Gerona, España.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Codina
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Coloproctología, Departamento de Cirugía, Complejo Hospitalario de Navarra, Pamplona, España.
authors.forename: Miguel Á
authors.initials: MÁ
authors.lastname: Ciga
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Coloproctología, Departamento de Cirugía, Hospital Universitario Donostia, San Sebastián, España.
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Enríquez-Navascués
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Coloproctología, Departamento de Cirugía, Hospital Universitario Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, España.
authors.forename: Eloy
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Espín
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Coloproctología, Departamento de Cirugía, Hospital Universitario La Fe, Valencia, España.
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: García-Granero
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Coloproctología, Hospital Nisa 9 de Octubre, Valencia, España.
authors.forename: José Vicente
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Roig
mesh_terms: D000714:Anastomosis, Surgical / Q000009:adverse effects; D057868:Anastomotic Leak / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012004:Rectal Neoplasms; D012007:Rectum; D012307:Risk Factors
keywords: Anastomotic leak; Base de datos multicéntrica; Case-mix; Comparación de hospitales; Comparison of departments; Cáncer de recto; Dehiscencia anastomótica; Educación médica; Education; Multicentre database; Rectal cancer; Volumen quirúrgico anual