Does Surgical Teaching Take Time? Resident Participation in Minimally Invasive Hysterectomy for Endometrial Cancer

Abstract

Study objective: To determine the association between resident involvement and operative time for minimally invasive surgery (MIS) for endometrial cancer.

Design: A retrospective cohort study (Canadian Task Force classification II-2).

Setting: An integrated health care system in Northern California.

Patients: A total of 1433 women who underwent MIS for endometrial cancer and endometrial intraepithelial neoplasia from January 2009 to January 2014.

Interventions: Resident participation in 430 of 688 laparoscopic cases (62%) and 341 of 745 robotic cases (46%).

Measurements and main results: The primary outcome was the impact of resident involvement on surgical time. When residents were involved in laparoscopic and robotic surgery, there was an increase of 61 minutes (median operative time, 186 vs 125 minutes; p < .001) and 31 minutes (median operative time, 165 vs 134 minutes; p < .001), respectively. Resident participation was associated with increased operative times in all levels of surgical complexity from hysterectomy alone to hysterectomy with pelvic and para-aortic lymph node dissection. Resident participation was also associated with increased major intraoperative complications (3.4% vs 1.8%, p = .02) as well as major postoperative complications (6.4% vs 3.8%, p = .003).

Conclusion: The presence of a resident was associated with a 32% increase in operative time for minimally invasive cases in gynecologic oncology for endometrial cancer. Because of the retrospective nature, we cannot infer causality of operative outcomes because residents were also involved in more high-risk patients and complex cases. For health care systems using surgical metrics, there may be a need to allocate more time for resident involvement.

Keywords: Minimally invasive surgery; Resident involvement.