Abstract
The role of vascular surgeons in oncological surgery has not yet been defined properly and there is a perceived lack of information regarding the role of the vascular surgeon in oncological procedures. As an attempt to help better define this field and the role of the vascular surgeon in OVS, the present authors created a survey that was sent out in the European Society of Vascular Surgery (ESVS) e-Newsletters in January - March 2021 and posted on ESVS social media.
In total, there were 102 responses (Fig. 1A). Ninety five (93%) respondents were vascular surgeons, and 53% consultants with more than 10 years of experience.
The other specialities were cardiovascular surgery (n = 2), transplant surgery (n = 2), hepatopancreatobiliary surgery (n = 1), and general surgery with specialisation in oncological surgery (n = 2). The responses came from 81 institutions, in 32 countries.
Sixty nine (77%) of the institutions were either tertiary care centres or university hospitals. In conclusion, oncovascular procedures are performed worldwide for a large range of oncological diseases.
The present authors confirmed the hypothesis that non-uniformity exists among vascular surgeons regarding strategy, practice, and follow up of the patients who undergo these operations. The results of this survey show a definite need for more information in this field.
The majority (86%) of the respondents find it necessary that such a document or guideline is supported by oncological and/or oncosurgical societies. A further observation is the high rate of vascular surgeons being called in as rescue surgeons in oncovascular procedures and concurrently the low involvement of the vascular surgeon in pre-operative multidisciplinary teams.
From this, it can be presumed that routine involvement of vascular surgeons in the multidisciplinary pre-operative planning of oncovascular procedures may lead to a reduction in bleeding complications. Finally, a growing interest for this new vascular surgery subspecialty is supported by 83% of the vascular surgeons involved in the present survey being interested in preparation of a future OVS consensus document.