Impact of Hospital Volume on the Outcomes of Renal Trauma Management

BACKGROUND: Some health care systems have set up referral trauma centers to centralize expertise to improve trauma management. There is scant and controversial evidence regarding the impact of provider’s volume on the outcomes of trauma management. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of hospital volume on the outcomes of renal trauma management in a European health care system. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A retrospective multicenter study, including all patients admitted for renal trauma in 17 French hospitals between 2005 and 2015, was conducted. INTERVENTION: Nephrectomy, angioembolization, or nonoperative management. OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Four quartiles according to the caseload per year: low volume (eight or fewer per year), moderate volume (nine to 13 per year), high volume (14–25/yr), and very high volume (≥26/yr). The primary endpoint was failure of nonoperative management defined as any interventional radiology or surgical procedure needed within the first 30 d after admission. RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS: Of 1771 patients with renal trauma, 1704 were included. Nonoperative management was more prevalent in the very-high- and low-volume centers (p = 0.02). In a univariate analysis, very high hospital volume was associated with a lower risk of nonoperative management failure than low (odds ratio [OR] = 0.54; p = 0.05) and moderate (OR = 0.48; p = 0.02) hospital volume. There were fewer nephrectomies in the high- and very-high-volume groups (p = 0.003). In a multivariate analysis, very high volume remained associated with a lower risk of nonoperative management failure than low (OR = 0.48; p = 0.04) and moderate (OR = 0.42; p = 0.01) volume. Study limitations include all the shortcomings inherent to its retrospective multicenter design. CONCLUSIONS: In this multicenter study, management of renal trauma varied according to hospital volume. There were lower rates of nephrectomy and failure of nonoperative management in very-high-volume centers. These results raise the question of centralizing the management of renal trauma, which is currently not the case in our health care system. PATIENT SUMMARY: In this study, management of renal trauma varied according to hospital volume. Very-high-volume centers had lower rates of nephrectomy and failure of nonoperative management.