Centralisation of highly specialised medicine (HSM) has changed practice and outcome in pancreatic surgery (PS) also in Switzerland. Fewer hospitals are allowed to perform pancreatic surgery according to nationally defined cut-offs.
We aimed to examine trends in PS in Switzerland. First, to assess opinions and expected trends among Swiss pancreatic surgeons in regard of PS practice and second, to assess the evolution of PS performance in Switzerland by a nationwide retrospective analysis.
First, a 26-item survey among all surgeons who performed PS in 2016 in Switzerland was performed. Then, nationwide data from 1998 to 2018 from all hospitals performing PS was analysed including centre volume, perioperative morbidity and mortality, surgical indications and utilisation of minimally invasive pancreatic surgery (MIPS). The national cut-off for regulatory accredited volume centres (AVC) was ≥ 12. Additionally, an international benchmark definition for high volume (≥ 20 surgeries/year) was used.
Among 25 surgeons from 15 centres (response rate 51%), the survey revealed agreement that centralisation is important to improve perioperative outcomes. Respondents agreed on a minimum case load per surgeon or centre. Within the nationwide database, 8534 pancreatic resections were identified. Most resections were performed for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (58.9%). There was a significant trend towards centralisation of PS with fewer non-accredited volume centres (nAVC) (36 in 1998 and 17 in 2018, p < 0.001) and more AVC (2 in 1998 and 18 in 2018, p < 0.001). A significantly higher adjusted mortality after pancreatoduodenectomy (PD) was observed in low-volume compared to high-volume hospitals (OR 1.45 [95% CI 1.15-1.84], p = 0.002) and a similar trend compared among AVC and nAVC (OR 1.25 [95% CI 0.98-1.60], p = 0.072), while mortality after distal pancreatectomy (DP) was not influenced by centre volume.
Over the last two decades, centralisation of PS towards higher-volume centres was observed in Switzerland with a decrease of mortality after PD and low mortality after DP. Further centralisation is supported by most pancreatic surgeons. However, the ideal metric and outcome measures for the allocation of highly specialised medicine need further discussion to allow a fair and outcome-focused allocation.