Topics and focusses of clinical studies in gastroenterological surgery

High-quality clinical research offers the opportunity to exert a direct inf luence on medical decision-making. To take stock of the current situation i n clinical gastroenterological surgery, a questionnaire was sent to 171 sur gical departments focussing on visceral surgery. Of the 93 that responded, 45.2 % conducted a total of 91 clinical studies. Only 8.8 % of these were d escribed as prospective randomized clinical studies; 60% were single-center studies. The studies were financed from the department budget in 60 cases, supported by industry in 27 cases and funded by independent institutions s uch as German Research Foundation or the Federal Ministry for Education and Research in 4 cases. Of the researchers performing the studies, 7.7 % had been exempted from other duties and 92.8 % were additionally involved in th e clinical routine. The majority of the clinical studies in Germany deal wi th diseases of the esophagus and pancreas or with chronic inflammatory bowe l diseases. The old and new states of the Federal Republic of Germany show no appreciable differences in the development and performance of clinical s tudies.