Benchmarks for Pediatric Surgical Registries: Recommendations for the Assessment and Grading of Complications

Abstract

Procedure-related registries in general surgical practice offer a platform for prospective trials, the pooling of data, and detailed outcome analysis. Recommendations by IDEAL and Outcome4Medicine have further improved the uniform reporting of complications and adverse events. In the pediatric surgical network, disease-specific registries for rare and inherited congenital anomalies are gaining importance, fostering international collaborations on studies of low-incidence diseases. However, to date, the reporting of complications in the pediatric surgical registries has been inconsistent. Therefore, the European Reference Network for Inherited and Congenital Anomalies (ERNICA) recently endorsed the validation of the first severity grading system for children. The planned reform of the European Pediatric Surgical Audit (EPSA) registry, which includes the implementation of the Clavien-Madadi classification, represents a further effort to establish uniform outcome reporting. This paper provides an overview of experiences with surgical registries and complication reporting, along with the potential application of this knowledge to future pediatric surgical practice.