Abstract Background Textbook outcome (TO) is a composite metric of surgical quality measurement. This study aimed at identifying how our center which is a low volume center for esophageal resections fared in terms of this particular metric. Methods This is a retrospective study of all Oesophageal cancers that underwent curative resections from our centre, between 1stJanuary 2020 to 31st December 2024. Patients were identified from a prospectively maintained surgical database and electronic medical records. The clinico-radiological, histo-pathological features and surgical outcomes were evaluated. We defined TO using the 2017 Dutch Upper GI Cancer Audit definition. Results We identified 41 patients for the said duration and TO were seen in 14/41 (34.1%) patients. Major perioperative morbidity (Clavien Dindo Grade 2 or above) was noted in 7/41 (17.1%) patients and We observed two (4.8%) perioperative deaths. We identified surgeon’s assessment of completeness of resection as the most easily achieved individual parameter in TO (41/41, 100%) followed by No-in hospital 30 day mortality (39/41, 95.2%). The most difficult individual parameter to achieve was optimal nodal yield (≥ 15 lymph nodes retrieved and examined) in 25/41 (61%), followed by No-30 day-readmission (34/41,82.9%). Conclusion TO can serve as a valuable tool to identify the challenges in achieving quality surgical output and can aid in taking corrective course.
Nittala et al. (Fri,) studied this question.