Gp. Copeland et al., COMPARATIVE VASCULAR AUDIT USING THE POSSUM SCORING SYSTEM, Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 75(3), 1993, pp. 175-177
Comparative audit using overall mortality and morbidity figures can be
misleading as they do not take into account variations in surgical pr
ocedure and patient fitness. To examine these effects we have compared
vascular surgery in two differing hospitals, during a similar 9-month
period, using the POSSUM scoring system. In one unit, 255 patients un
derwent vascular surgery with an operative mortality of 9.4%, and morb
idity of 37.3%. In the other unit, 89 patients underwent vascular proc
edures with an operative mortality of 20.2% and morbidity of 47.2%. At
first sight there appear to be significant differences in operative o
utcome between the two units. However, analysis using the Possum syste
m predicts a mortality rate of 10.2% for unit A and 20.2% for unit B (
morbidity rates of 38.4% for unit A and 50.6% for unit B). Receiver op
erating curve (ROC) analysis demonstrated no significant difference be
tween the two units (see Table III). Possum analysis may be of use in
comparative audit.