Comparison of Two National Databases for General Thoracic Surgery

The authors evaluated a single year of thoracic surgery operations at their institution and compared outcomes based on data in the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP), which uses a sampling technique, to the STS General Thoracic Database, a comprehensive data collection system.  Globally, NSQIP underestimated postoperative complications.  When specific procedures were evaluated, the number of errors in NSQIP increased.  The authors concluded that a comprehensive database provide more accurate outcomes information.