Positive trend of Ukrainian surgeons’ attitude to simultaneous operations: analysis of survey results

Abstract

In recent years, there has been an increase in attention to simultaneous operations, but their frequency does not meet real needs. The aim of the study was to determine the dynamics of surgeons’ awareness of simultaneous surgery in combined abdominal pathology. The results of the survey of surgeons of surgical inpatient departments of regional, district and city hospitals, as well as institutes and university clinics of Poltava, Sumy, Rivne, Kharkiv, Luhansk and Donetsk regions (except for territories not controlled by the Ukrainian authorities) were analyzed. The sample was random within a homogeneous general population of surgeons. The first survey, which included 724 doctors, was conducted in 2016. The re-survey, conducted in 2020, involved 153 doctors. The subject of the survey was the state of simultaneous surgical interventions in surgical departments departments and the personal attitude of specialists to this type of intervention. The comparison of the survey results in 2016 and in 2020 was carried out using the criterion χ2. In response to questions about the feasibility of simultaneous implementation, there is an increase in the proportion of doctors who consider these losses appropriate - from 86.3% to 96.7%. The following questions show that practicing surgeons are more likely to perform simultaneous interventions themselves - their share has increased from 66.3% to 86.3%. At the same time, the number of doctors with skills and knowledge of a related specialty increased by 20% (from 27% to 47.1%), however, it is still less than half of doctors. The share of physicians who consider it appropriate to master a related specialty to be able to perform a wider range of simultaneous interventions increased from 68.0% to 80.4%. The share of physicians with minimally invasive techniques to perform simultaneous operations increased from 26.0% to 55.6%. There is a positive trend in the attitude of practitioners to simultaneous operations. For the further development of simultaneous operations in combined pathology, it is necessary to train “endoscopic surgeons”, who must have the skills of related specialties.