PTU-213 Self expandable metal stents (SEMS) for obstructing colorectal cancer in England: linkage analysis of hospital episode statistics
Authors: J Geraghty, S Sarkar, M Shawihdi, E Thompson, M Pearson, K Bodger
Journal: Gut (2012)

<h3>Introduction</h3> Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the 4th commonest cancer worldwide. Hospital admission with large bowel obstruction occurs in 15% and requires urgent decompression. SEMS can provide <b>palliative</b> treatment in advanced disease (avoiding surgical defunctioning) or preoperative <b>bridging</b> to elective surgery for operable disease. We aimed to describe a national profile for incidence (activity) of SEMS, volumes per Trust, length of stay and rates of readmission, reintervention and mortality for CRC in England. <h3>Methods</h3> We developed techniques within the SPSS software package to identify a 1-year cohort of incident cases of CRC, starting with a merged file of raw HES data for all care episodes in English hospitals for 2006/7 and 2007/8. We selected only patients with first coding of CRC in the middle 12 months (October–September), then extracted all their admissions within 6 months (before and after) of first cancer coding, ordering them chronologically and then screening to identify admissions for SEMS and surgical procedures. Linkage to death registry provided date of death. Patients with SEMS and no subsequent surgical resection were flagged as <b>palliative</b> patients and those with a subsequent resection as <b>bridge</b> patients. <h3>Results</h3> <b>Overall:</b> 517 patients were identified nationally as having SEMS placement for obstructing CRC (mean age: 72.6 yrs [SD: 12.0]; 62.5% male), with mean LOS of 7.9 [SD 11.3] days and overall mortality at 30 d (10.3%) and 90 d (18.0%). The 30 d emergency readmission rate was 15.1%. SEMS were code by 122 (81.3%) of acute Trusts in England, with volumes ranging from 1 to 24 per institution. <b>Palliative group:</b> (n=421, 81.4% of cases), mean LOS for index admission 9.2 [SD: 14.6] days and mortality at 30 d (12.1%) and 90 d (21.2%). Emergency readmission within 30 d (17.8%). Subsequent surgical colostomy coded in 9.5%. Palliative procedures were recorded in 122 Trusts (Volumes: 1–13 per institution), <b>Bridge group</b>: (n=96, 18.6% of cases), mean LOS for index admission 9.5 [SD: 10.4] days and mortality at 30 d (2.1%) and 90 d (4.2%). Emergency 30 d readmission (8.7%). Colostomy coded as part of surgery in 33.4%. Bridge procedures were coded in 48 (32%) acute Trusts (Volumes: 1–12). <h3>Conclusion</h3> Analysis of HES data suggests SEMS insertion in English hospitals is predominantly for palliative purposes and most cases selected for this intervention survive beyond 30 days and avoid operative decompression. The use of SEMS as a bridge to surgery was relatively uncommon and one third required a stoma at surgery. Variation between Trusts in coding quality is inevitable but the data suggest 1 in 5 institutions may lack provision for SEMS. <h3>Competing interests</h3> J Geraghty: Grant/Research Support from: Cook Medical, S Sarkar: None declared, M Shawihdi: None declared, E Thompson: None declared, M Pearson: None declared, K Bodger: None declared.