Learning Curves in Laparoscopic Distal Pancreatectomy: A Different Experience for Each Generation

This study compared the learning curves and outcome of Laparoscopic Distal Pancreatectomy between 'pioneers' and early adopters in terms of feasibility and proficiency using short term outcomes.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Surgery
• Intervention / Treatment: Procedure: Laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy

Detailed Description

Learning curves of laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy (LDP) are mostly based on 'pioneering' surgeons who acquired sufficient proficiency largely through self-teaching. No learning curves have been investigated for early adopting surgeons who performed surgery in later stages of the IDEAL framework and build on the experience of the 'pioneering' surgeons. This study compared the learning curves and outcome of LDP between 'pioneers' and early adopters in terms of feasibility and proficiency using short term outcomes over a period from 1997-2019.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 600

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: N/A
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Data of all consecutive patients who underwent elective LDP by 'pioneering' surgeons and early adopting surgeons in the period 1997-2019 were collected from a retrospective database of centers participating in the European Consortium on Minimally Invasive Pancreatic Surgery (E-MIPS) or International Consortium on Minimally Invasive Pancreatic Surgery (I-MIPS).

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• The collected data included the name of the surgeon so inclusion criteria for participating surgeons could be determined. Surgeons who were experienced with a minimum of 40 LDPs in total with at least 10 LDPs per year and who performed their LDPs in the same institution (i.e. no outside institutions) were included.

Exclusion Criteria:

• None

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Observational Models: Cohort
• Time Perspectives: Retrospective

Number of groups / cohorts

2

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Early adopting surgeons; Surgeons who started performing LDP during phase 3 of the IDEAL framework; the Assessment phase. They received training in the form of fellowships, proctoring, and courses	Procedure: Laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy; Comparison of performed laparoscopic distal pancreas surgery in two different surgeon groups
Pioneering surgeons; Surgeons who started performing LDP during phase 2 of the IDEAL framework; the Development and Exploration phase. They did not receive any specific form of training and were therefore considered self-taught.	Procedure: Laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy; Comparison of performed laparoscopic distal pancreas surgery in two different surgeon groups

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Feasibility learning curve	Feasibility learning curves are based on operation time	1997-2019
Proficiency learning curve	Proficiency learning curves are based on major complications	1997-2019

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Fondazione Poliambulanza Istituto Ospedaliero
• Collaborators: Amsterdam UMC, location VUmc

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): December 1, 1997
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 1, 2019
• Study Completion (Actual): December 1, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 18, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 24, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): October 26, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 26, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 24, 2022
• Last Verified: October 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: W19_414 # 19.482

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No