Standards for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair Quality Improvement Registries: A Delphi Consensus Report From VASCUNET and the International Consortium of Vascular Registries

OBJECTIVE: Outcome registries in vascular surgery are used increasingly to drive quality improvement by vascular societies. The VASCUNET collaboration, within the European Society for Vascular Surgery (ESVS), and the International Consortium of Vascular Registries (ICVR) developed a set of variables for quality improvement registries on abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair as a registry standard. METHODS: Representatives from international vascular registries within VASCUNET, ICVR, and other nations with established registries were invited to provide the variables. The final variables were developed through a two stage modified Delphi process. Variables from the established registries with at least 60% consensus among all the registries were included for round 1. A five point Likert scale (strongly disagree to fully agree) was used. If the limit of consensual agreement was not reached in round 1, the variable was discussed again in round 2. For round 2, an array question method (yes, no to unsure) was used. Agreement of at least 70% resulted in the variable being included in the final dataset. RESULTS: A total of 88 of 371 variables extracted from all AAA registries were circulated in the modified Delphi process as they reached the 60% consensus threshold. The questionnaire was circulated to 55 participants (round 1: 49; 89%; round 2: 43; 78%). After two rounds, 70 variables were recommended on consensual agreement. These variables comprised demographics (n = 4), pre-operative information (n = 28), intra-operative variables (n = 18), post-operative variables (n = 5), and follow up (n = 13). CONCLUSION: Based on this modified Delphi process, an international panel of vascular surgeons representing quality improvement registries recommended 70 core variables as standard in AAA repair registries. The inclusion of a core set of variables in AAA vascular registries may help to further harmonise observational research and quality of AAA repair among global healthcare systems.