Comparing Resident Team Performance in Complex Surgical Oncology: A Single-Institution Cohort Study.
Some resident-led surgical teams had adverse event rates up to 22.3% higher than expected
Comparing Resident Team Performance in Complex Surgical Oncology: A Single-Institution Cohort Study.
Team dynamics influence team performance and patient outcomes in surgery, yet data on resident-led teams are scarce.
This study aimed to compare patient outcomes across resident-led teams in complex surgical oncology.
This was a retrospective cohort study of resident-led teams who contributed more than 10 surgical oncology operations (colectomy, hepatectomy, pancreatectomy, or thyroidectomy) to the National Surgical Quality Improvement Project registry at a single university-based hospital (2018-2025).
In total, 145 teams cared for a median of 22 patients (interquartile interval 16- 27; n = 2919).
A total of 13 teams had significantly longer risk-adjusted length of stays than expected (O-E between 0.4 and 3.5 days), and seven teams had shorter risk-adjusted length of stays than expected (O-E between -1.1 and -0.7 days).
Three teams had higher risk-adjusted readmission rates than expected (O-E between 4.9% and 6.8%).
Two teams performed poorly across all three outcomes.
Variation in team performance can be measured using valid and reliable risk-adjusted patient outcomes in complex surgical oncology. This may provide meaningful feedback with benchmarking to identify teams that require more supervision.