An Australian regional hospital's oesophagectomy experience: A 10-year case series from Tasmania

Introduction: Oesophagectomy is recommended as part of curative treatment for oesophageal cancer but is associated with substantial morbidity. Centralization has been recommended to improve outcomes, but this has not been widely applied in Australia. This study aimed to audit a regional hospital...

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Main Authors: Renishka Sellayah, Girish Pande
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-06-01
Series:Surgery in Practice and Science
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666262025000087
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author Renishka Sellayah
Girish Pande
author_facet Renishka Sellayah
Girish Pande
author_sort Renishka Sellayah
collection DOAJ
description Introduction: Oesophagectomy is recommended as part of curative treatment for oesophageal cancer but is associated with substantial morbidity. Centralization has been recommended to improve outcomes, but this has not been widely applied in Australia. This study aimed to audit a regional hospital's experience over ten years and compare it to outcomes from national and international centres to support the view that oesophagectomy can be performed safely in select regional centres in Australia. Methods: Patients undergoing oesophagectomy at a single regional hospital in North-East Tasmania, Australia between January 2014 and December 2023 were retrospectively identified. Preoperative patient and tumour characteristics, and outcomes (mortality, anastomotic leak, length of stay, respiratory complications, long-term complications and survival) were compared to other centres. Results: 65 patients were identified. 53 % were male, mean age was 65.2 years, 29.2 % had respiratory disease and 18.5 % were current smokers. The anastomotic leak rate was 7.7 %. 25 % developed pneumonia postoperatively. Average ICU length of stay was 4.6 days, median acute inpatient length of stay was 15 days. There was one in-hospital mortality and one 30-day mortality. 2 patients (3 %) required diaphragmatic hernia repair; 12 patients (18.5 %) required endoscopic dilatation of anastomotic strictures. The 5-year survival rate was 66 %. Our results compare favourably to published rates of anastomotic leak (10–15 %), inpatient stay (15 days), pneumonia (20–30 %), 30-day mortality (1–4 %) and anastomotic stricture (20 %). Conclusions: Oesophagectomies can be safely performed in regional centres in Australia that routinely undertake a higher volume of cases per year, provided services required to manage complications are readily available.
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spelling doaj-art-18e81496dee54a638c74f6b357bce3532025-08-20T03:45:04ZengElsevierSurgery in Practice and Science2666-26202025-06-012110027910.1016/j.sipas.2025.100279An Australian regional hospital's oesophagectomy experience: A 10-year case series from TasmaniaRenishka Sellayah0Girish Pande1Corresponding author.; Department of Surgery, Launceston General Hospital, 274-280 Charles Street, Launceston, 7250, Tasmania, AustraliaDepartment of Surgery, Launceston General Hospital, 274-280 Charles Street, Launceston, 7250, Tasmania, AustraliaIntroduction: Oesophagectomy is recommended as part of curative treatment for oesophageal cancer but is associated with substantial morbidity. Centralization has been recommended to improve outcomes, but this has not been widely applied in Australia. This study aimed to audit a regional hospital's experience over ten years and compare it to outcomes from national and international centres to support the view that oesophagectomy can be performed safely in select regional centres in Australia. Methods: Patients undergoing oesophagectomy at a single regional hospital in North-East Tasmania, Australia between January 2014 and December 2023 were retrospectively identified. Preoperative patient and tumour characteristics, and outcomes (mortality, anastomotic leak, length of stay, respiratory complications, long-term complications and survival) were compared to other centres. Results: 65 patients were identified. 53 % were male, mean age was 65.2 years, 29.2 % had respiratory disease and 18.5 % were current smokers. The anastomotic leak rate was 7.7 %. 25 % developed pneumonia postoperatively. Average ICU length of stay was 4.6 days, median acute inpatient length of stay was 15 days. There was one in-hospital mortality and one 30-day mortality. 2 patients (3 %) required diaphragmatic hernia repair; 12 patients (18.5 %) required endoscopic dilatation of anastomotic strictures. The 5-year survival rate was 66 %. Our results compare favourably to published rates of anastomotic leak (10–15 %), inpatient stay (15 days), pneumonia (20–30 %), 30-day mortality (1–4 %) and anastomotic stricture (20 %). Conclusions: Oesophagectomies can be safely performed in regional centres in Australia that routinely undertake a higher volume of cases per year, provided services required to manage complications are readily available.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666262025000087Case seriesOesophagectomyRegional surgery in Australia
spellingShingle Renishka Sellayah
Girish Pande
An Australian regional hospital's oesophagectomy experience: A 10-year case series from Tasmania
Surgery in Practice and Science
Case series
Oesophagectomy
Regional surgery in Australia
title An Australian regional hospital's oesophagectomy experience: A 10-year case series from Tasmania
title_full An Australian regional hospital's oesophagectomy experience: A 10-year case series from Tasmania
title_fullStr An Australian regional hospital's oesophagectomy experience: A 10-year case series from Tasmania
title_full_unstemmed An Australian regional hospital's oesophagectomy experience: A 10-year case series from Tasmania
title_short An Australian regional hospital's oesophagectomy experience: A 10-year case series from Tasmania
title_sort australian regional hospital s oesophagectomy experience a 10 year case series from tasmania
topic Case series
Oesophagectomy
Regional surgery in Australia
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666262025000087
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