BACKGROUND
There is wide variation in anti-reflux practise
Work up and surgery for gastro-oesophageal reflux represents a large proportion of the Upper GI Surgeon's workload. We know from HES data and the SWORD database that there is large variation in UK practise, extending from use and interpretation of diagnostic tests to day-case rates and procedures employed.
There is no clear evidence to support one fundoplication technique over another and novel techniques are being employed in increasing numbers (LINX, ESOPHYX, STRETTA, etc)
AIM
Arrow is a national, collaborative, prospective audit aiming to quantify the variation in practice and inform future studies on anti-reflux interventions.
Participants will be asked to prospectively record the indication, pre-operative investigations, operative technique and short-term outcomes of all patients undergoing anti-reflux surgery using an online platform. This platform can be accessed from any device connected to the internet. Individual sites will only have access to data collected via their site.
We hope trainees will take a leading role.
The audit phase is intended to run for nine months from November 2019 centres will be able continue to upload patient details after the initial audit phase and make use of the online tool.
Click here for the full study protocol
Methods
The online ARROW platform
Each centre will have a unique logon to access to online platform
Adding patient details
Easy to use online forms to add clinical information for each patient including factors relating to patient history, surgery and outcomes. Navigate each section using the left hand menu. Each patient is given a unique study ID for psuedoanonymisation. Each centre can only access their own patients.
Join ARROW
To join our collaborative and gain access to our audit tool please follow the link and leave your contact details.