Returns to theatre and failure to rescue following major resection for colorectal cancer project

Project reference number - 0006

Principal Investigator – Dr Amy Downing

Plain language summary - Most patients with bowel cancer will have surgery. Some patients suffer complications during or after their surgery, such as infection or leakage. Patients who suffer complications may need to return to theatre to control the complication. We want to understand which patients are most at risk of having to return to theatre. This information could help improve care for patients who suffer complications.  

We will analyse the data to find out how many patients needed further surgery, and if any of the patients who returned died within 30 days of their first operation. The analysis will also reveal any differences between hospitals and any differences by patient characteristics (such as age, sex, stage of cancer).  

This project will discover if any hospitals had particularly high or low rates of return to theatre. In those patients who did have to return to theatre, it will describe how many people died within 30 days of the first operation. Identifying such trends is the first step in improving standards of care. Hopefully, the project results can be used to conduct regular checks on returns to theatre. It may also help identify patients at particularly high risk of complications requiring further surgery, so as to improve their care.