A new tool is changing how surgeons assess risks for adult heart surgery.
The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) has harnessed advanced technology to help them better understand the risks involved in surgery.
The Operative Risk Calculator is a pioneering tool that draws on the extensive STS Adult Cardiac Surgery Database. It encompasses 97% of cardiac operations – or the treatment experiences of more than eight million patients across the States.
This upgraded calculator is primed to empower medical practitioners and usher in a new era of enhanced patient care by harnessing big data.
Mobile-friendly, it features a simplified, intuitive user design to improve physician-patient decision-making.
The heart of its innovation lies in its real-time risk estimation, facilitating timely and informed decisions for surgeons and multidisciplinary medical teams.
Powered by the latest nationwide data from the 2023 STS Adult Cardiac Surgery Database, the risk assessments are underpinned by resilient models that receive quarterly updates.
STS President, Dr Thomas MacGillivray, said: ‘This next-generation Operative Risk Calculator is a powerful, user-friendly tool that makes it easier for cardiothoracic surgical teams to assess risk and predict outcomes in real time for the vast majority of adult cardiac surgery procedures.’
The unveiling serves as a precursor to a series of upcoming enhancements to the STS National Database.
The expansion takes place in the coming months and is tailored to meet the day-to-day needs of surgeons, data managers and cardiothoracic care units.
User feedback informed the design of the new Risk Calculator and is also driving the development of other innovations to fully leverage the nearly 10 million cardiothoracic surgery procedures in the database.
By early 2024, its coverage looks to encompass more than 90% of all adult heart interventions, as it incorporates risk models for less frequently undertaken procedures.
Noteworthy features of this pioneering tool include:
- A single-page desktop calculator that adapts to varying screen sizes
- Automated computations based on user input
- User-friendly assistance for all calculator inputs, including automatically handling values outside the acceptable range
- Clinical summaries of the simulated patient are generated and updated in real-time with corresponding risk estimates
- Ease of use to copy into the electronic health record.
The calculator generates real-time clinical summaries of simulated patients, complete with corresponding risk evaluations, streamlining integration with electronic health records.
The STS National Database incorporates data from around the US and spans 11 countries and is considered the benchmark for clinical registries chronicling patient outcomes in cardiothoracic surgery.
It unites data-driven precision with medical acumen to shape a future marked by improved patient outcomes and more informed medical decision-making.
The Adult Cardiac Surgery Operative Risk Calculator can be found here.
