Cross-sectional survey of surgical practices among gynecologic oncologists in the United States

Objective. We sought to document current surgical practices among gynecologic oncologists in the United States.Methods. In March/April 2020, we conducted a cross-sectional survey among members of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology to identify gynecologic oncology practice trends in the United States. The survey collected demographic data and queried participants on types of surgical procedures performed and chemotherapy use. Univariant and multivariant analyses were used to evaluate the association between surgeon practice type, re-gion of practice, working with gynecologic oncology fellows, time in practice, and dominant surgical modality of practice on performance of specific procedures.Results. Among 1199 gynecologic oncology surgeons who were emailed the survey, 724 completed the survey (60.4% response rate). Of these respondents, 170 (23.5%) were within 6 years of fellowship graduation, 368 (50.8%) identified as female; and 479 (66.2%) worked in an academic setting. Surgeons who worked with gyne-cologic oncology fellows were more likely to perform bowel surgery, upper abdominal surgery, complex upper abdominal surgery, and prescribe chemotherapy. Surgeons who were >= 13 years out from fellowship graduation were more likely to perform bowel surgery and complex abdominal surgery and less likely to prescribe chemo-therapy and perform sentinel lymph node dissections (P < 0.05).Conclusions. These findings highlight the variation in surgical procedures performed by gynecologic oncolo-gists in the United States. These data support that there are practice variations that would benefit from further investigation.(c) 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study aimed to investigate the current surgical practices among gynecologic oncologists in the United States. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among members of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology to collect demographic data and gather information on surgical procedures and chemotherapy use. The results showed variations in surgical practices among gynecologic oncologists in the United States, highlighting the need for further investigation.