ABSTRACT
The major shift in health-care resource utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic to support patients requiring mechanical ventilation and intensive care monitoring has led to unprecedented cancellations of elective surgeries and reductions of ambulatory clinic visits worldwide. The primary objective of this study is to determine whether the response to the pandemic resulted in modifications, cancellations or delays to the standard therapeutic algorithms for patients with gynecologic malignancies at tertiary, large-volume publicly funded Canadian cancer centers as compared to a privately funded American cancer center. This is a retrospective cohort study of all surgical oncology and gynecologic oncology cases performed in the province of Ontario and at the University Health Network/Princess Margaret Cancer Center (UHN/PMH) as a surrogate for treatment delays, compared to all gynecologic oncology patients treated at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA, between March 3, 2020-June 30, 2020. Descriptive statistics and treatment times were analysed using SPSS 25.0 In the province of Ontario, between March 15, 2020-October 25, 2020, there was a 19% overall decrease in surgical oncology volumes compared to the same time period the previous year (March 17, 2019-Oct 17, 2019). There was an increase of 96% in high priority surgical oncology cases and a 43% decrease in low priority cancer cases. Surgeries for gynecologic malignancies decreased by 8% in the province of Ontario as compared to the previous year. At UHN/PMH, a publicly funded tertiary cancer center in Ontario, there was a 59.8% reduction in surgical oncology volumes between March 09, 2020-May 04 2020, as compared to the previous year (March 04, 2019-April 29 2019). In comparison, at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, a privately funded tertiary cancer center, there were 202 new gynecologic oncology patient referrals and 66 returning patients between March 3, 2020-June 30, 2020. The median time from referral to first consultation for new patients was 11 days (range 1-21) and the time to primary treatment was 31 days (range 5-157). New patients with ovarian malignancies had the shortest time to treatment of 22 days (range 5-157). There were no modifications made to the standard of care treatment plans for any patients and 5.7% of the patients had treatment delays. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the public Canadian healthcare system in the province of Ontario was subjected to a 19% reduction in surgical oncology volumes and 8% specifically for gynecologic oncology surgeries, while there was a 5.7% treatment delay for gynecologic oncology surgeries for a similar patient cohort treated at a tertiary cancer center in a privately funded health care system in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Gynecologic Oncology is the property of Academic Press Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
ABSTRACT
Same-day discharge (SDD) after minimally invasive hysterectomy for benign or malignant gynecologic conditions has been shown to be safe and feasible, but remains challenging to implement. We designed and implemented a quality improvement perioperative program for minimally invasive gynecologic oncology surgery (MIGOS). Our aim was to improve SDD rate from 30% to 75% over the study period, while maintaining acceptable 30-day perioperative outcomes and patient experience. Consecutive patients undergoing minimally invasive hysterectomy at a single cancer centre were included during the 9-month project period and a historical cohort of 100 consecutive patients was identified for comparison. A team of gynecologic oncologists, anesthesiologists, and nurses developed a comprehensive perioperative care program and met bi-weekly to revise interventions through plan-do-study-act (PDSA) cycles. Patients were followed for 30 days after discharge. We conducted a descriptive analysis of the characteristics of pre-MIGOS and MIGOS patient cohorts using Wilcoxon rank-sum or Fisher exact tests. We used a run chart to monitor effects of interventions on outcomes and a pre-post analysis to evaluate for statistical significance of change in SDD and perioperative outcomes. We assessed 100 consecutive pre-MIGOS and 79 consecutive MIGOS patients. Overall SDD rates increased from 31% (31/100) to 71% (56/79) after implementation (p<0.001) (Figure 1). There was a consistent increase in SDD rate after implementation, although more pronounced following the start of the COVID pandemic. The MIGOS cohort was significantly younger (59 vs. 65;p=0.04) and had shorter operative times (168 vs. 202 minutes;p<0.001) but the two groups were not different with respect to BMI, comorbidity, stage distribution, type of procedure performed, and intraoperative blood loss. We found no difference in 30-day perioperative complication rates, readmission, reoperation, clinic visits, emergency department visits, mortality or morbidity. The most common reason for overnight admission was nausea and vomiting (35%), complications related to pre-existing comorbidities (15%) and urinary retention (10%). Overall, 89% of MIGOS patients rated their experience as 'very good' or 'excellent', and 87% felt that their post-operative length of stay was adequate. [Display omitted] Following implementation of a perioperative quality improvement program targeted towards minimally invasive gynecologic oncology surgery, a multidisciplinary team significantly improved SDD rates while maintaining low 30-day perioperative complications and excellent patient experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Gynecologic Oncology is the property of Academic Press Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To compare gynecologic oncology surgical treatment modifications and delays during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic between a publicly funded Canadian versus a privately funded American cancer center. METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study of all planned gynecologic oncology surgeries at University Health Network (UHN) in Toronto, Canada and Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) in Boston, USA, between March 22,020 and July 302,020. Surgical treatment delays and modifications at both centers were compared to standard recommendations. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to adjust for confounders. RESULTS: A total of 450 surgical gynecologic oncology patients were included; 215 at UHN and 235 at BWH. There was a significant difference in median time from decision-to-treat to treatment (23 vs 15 days, p < 0.01) between UHN and BWH and a significant difference in treatment delays (32.56% vs 18.29%; p < 0.01) and modifications (8.37% vs 0.85%; p < 0.01), respectively. On multivariable analysis adjusting for age, race, treatment site and surgical priority status, treatment at UHN was an independent predictor of treatment modification (OR = 9.43,95% CI 1.81-49.05, p < 0.01). Treatment delays were higher at UHN (OR = 1.96,95% CI 1.14-3.36 p = 0.03) and for uterine disease (OR = 2.43, 95% CI 1.11-5.33, p = 0.03). CONCLUSION: During the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic, gynecologic oncology patients treated at a publicly funded Canadian center were 9.43 times more likely to have a surgical treatment modification and 1.96 times more likely to have a surgical delay compared to an equal volume privately funded center in the United States.