Impact of a common clinical pathway on length of hospital stay in patients undergoing open and minimally invasive kidney surgery Journal Article


Authors: Tarin, T.; Feifer, A.; Kimm, S.; Chen, L.; Sjoberg, D.; Coleman, J.; Russo, P.
Article Title: Impact of a common clinical pathway on length of hospital stay in patients undergoing open and minimally invasive kidney surgery
Abstract: Purpose Clinical pathways are designed to reduce variability in patient care practices and improve clinical outcomes. We evaluated the effect of implementing a clinical care pathway on length of stay in patients undergoing kidney surgery. Materials and Methods After receiving institutional review board approval we evaluated prospective data on consecutive cases of partial and radical nephrectomy performed at our institution from 2000 to 2011. We identified 1,775 partial nephrectomies (1,449 open and 326 minimally invasive) and 1,025 radical nephrectomies (857 open and 168 minimally invasive). We used multivariate linear regression to test for an interaction between procedure type and surgery before vs after the clinical pathway was begun. Results Median length of stay decreased 40% (from 5 to 3 days) for open surgery and 33% (from 3 to 2 days) for minimally invasive surgery after clinical pathway implementation. Length of stay in patients treated with minimally invasive or open partial nephrectomy and open radical nephrectomy decreased while it remained stable in those who underwent minimally invasive radical nephrectomy. The difference in length of stay between open and minimally invasive partial nephrectomy before and after implementing the clinical pathway decreased by 1.5 days (95% CI 0.56-2.5, p = 0.002). At 30 days postoperatively major complication rates remained similar. Conclusions The clinical pathway resulted in a significantly shorter length of stay in patients treated with partial and radical nephrectomy without a discernible impact on safety or quality of care. Clinical pathways for kidney surgery should be used and continually optimized to enhance efficiency, patient safety and outcomes. © 2014 by American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.
Keywords: adult; major clinical study; laparoscopic surgery; nephrectomy; health care quality; length of stay; body mass; kidney; partial nephrectomy; patient safety; postoperative infection; clinical pathway; minimally invasive surgery; hospital readmission; postoperative hemorrhage; morphometrics; urine retention; health care planning; small intestine obstruction; organ injury; surgical patient; urinary tract fistula; open partial nephrectomy; standard of care; institutional review; abdominal infection; case mix; critical pathways; human; male; female; priority journal; article; health impact assessment; minimally invasive partial nephrectomy; minimally invasive radical nephrectomy; open radical nephrectomy
Journal Title: Journal of Urology
Volume: 191
Issue: 5
ISSN: 0022-5347
Publisher: Elsevier Science, Inc.  
Date Published: 2014-05-01
Start Page: 1225
End Page: 1230
Language: English
DOI: 10.1016/j.juro.2013.11.030
PROVIDER: scopus
PUBMED: 24270130
DOI/URL:
Notes: J. Urol. -- Export Date: 2 June 2014 -- CODEN: JOURA -- Source: Scopus
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MSK Authors
  1. Jonathan Coleman
    344 Coleman
  2. Paul Russo
    581 Russo
  3. Tatum Varut Tarin
    10 Tarin
  4. Daniel D. Sjoberg
    234 Sjoberg
  5. Andrew Feifer
    18 Feifer
  6. Simon Yoon Kimm
    8 Kimm
  7. Ling Yun Chen
    23 Chen