National Trends in Utilization of Endoscopic Ultrasound for Gastric Cancer: a SEER-Medicare Study

• Published in: Journal of gastrointestinal surgery 2016-01, Vol.20 (1), p.154-164
• Main Authors: Huntington, Ciara R., Walsh, Kendall, Han, Yimei, Salo, Jonathan, Hill, Joshua
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 2015 SSAT Plenary Presentation; Adenocarcinoma - diagnostic imaging; Adenocarcinoma - pathology; Adenocarcinoma - surgery; Aged; Chemotherapy; Endoscopy; Endosonography - statistics & numerical data; Epidemiology; Female; Gastrectomy; Gastric cancer; Gastroenterology; Humans; Lymph Nodes - pathology; Lymphatic system; Male; Medical prognosis; Medicare; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Neoplasm Staging - methods; Odds Ratio; Retrospective Studies; SEER Program; Stomach Neoplasms - diagnostic imaging; Stomach Neoplasms - pathology; Stomach Neoplasms - surgery; Surgery; Surveillance; Tomography; Trends; Ultrasonic imaging; United States
• ISSN: 1091-255X; 1873-4626
• DOI: 10.1007/s11605-015-2988-8

Introduction Accurate preoperative staging is important for patients with gastric cancer. This study identifies the rate of utilization of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) and its associated factors in Medicare patients with gastric adenocarcinoma. Methods The linked Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare claims database was queried from 1996 to 2009 for patients with gastric cancer who underwent gastric resection. Analysis with univariate, multivariate, and Cochran-Armitage trend tests were performed. Results In 5826 patients with gastric cancer with an average age of 76.9 ± 6.62 years, 59.1 % had regionalized spread of cancer. EUS utilization increased significantly during the study period from 2.6 % to 22 % ( p