Effect of hospital case-volume on mortality after ovarian cancer surgery: a population-based retrospective cohort study

Objectives: The goal of ovarian cancer surgery has recently shifted from optimal cytoreduction to more complete resection. This study attempted to reassess and update the association between surgical case-volume and both in-hospital and long-term mortality after ovarian cancer surgery using recent data.Design: This study is a population-based retrospective cohort study. Participants/Material: Data from all adult patients who underwent ovarian cancer surgery in Korea between 2005 and 2019 were obtained from the national database. A total of 24,620 patients underwent ovarian cancer surgery in 362 hospitals during the period.Setting: In-hospital and 1, 3, 5-year mortality were set as primary and secondary outcomes.Methods: Hospitals were categorized into high-volume (>90 cases/year), medium-volume (20-90 cases/year), and low-volume (<20 cases/year) centers considering overall distribution of case-volume. Postoperative in-hospital and long-term mortality were analyzed using logistic regression after adjusting for potential risk factors. Results: Compared to high-volume centers (0.54%), in-hospital mortality was significantly higher in medium-volume (1.40%; adjusted odds ratio, 2.92; confidence interval, 1.82-3.73; P<0.001) and low-volume (1.61%; adjusted odds ratio, 2.94; confidence interval, 2.07-4.17; P<0.001) centers. In addition, 1-year mortality was 6.26%, 7.06%, and 7.94% for high-volume, medium-volume, and low-volume centers, respectively, and the differences among the groups were significant. However, case-volume effect was not apparent in 3- and 5-year mortality after ovarian cancer surgery.Limitations: Lacking clinical information such as staging or histologic diagnosis due to the nature of the administrative data should be considered in interpreting the data.Conclusions Case-volume effect was observed for in-hospital and 1-year mortality after ovarian cancer surgery while it was not clearly found in 3- or 5-year mortality. Dilution of the case-volume effect might be attributed to the high accessibility to care.