Results of the quality control project for varicose vein surgery of the German Society for Vascular Surgery

摘要

Varicose veins and comorbidities are an economically significant disease. Surgery for varicose veins is performed more than 300,000 times a year in Germany. Based on this, the executive board of the German Society for Vascular Surgery decided to implement a quality control system for varicose vein surgery. The quality goals/indicators were defined as: an accurate description of the degree and severity of the disease, at least one sonographic or radiologic procedure to show the morphology and flow patterns of the venous system pre-operatively, the performance of a suitable surgical therapy based on the preoperative diagnosis, and a low intra- and perioperative complication rate. During the years 2001-2003, 36,323 patients with 49,939 procedures related to the long or short saphenous system were assessed. Nearly all patients were diagnosed preoperatively by means of duplex sonography or phlebography, and the implemented procedures concurred to a high degree with the preoperative diagnosis. Intra-and postoperative complication rates were very low. A distinct raise in the complication rate was shown with the ASA-classification (ASA 1: 4.25, ASA 2: 5.21, ASA 3: 9.3, ASA 4: 7.48). Data analysis has shown that the quality goals/indicators were defined correctly, that they are relevant and provide evidence on the disease and the surgical procedures.