Pancreatic and Small Bowel Surgery – Effects on Postoperative Quality of Life

Vol. 1, Suppl. 1, 2001

Free Abstract Article (References) Article (PDF 178 KB)

Pancreatic Enzyme Therapy following Surgical Procedures in the Gastrointestinal Tract
Guest Editor: P.G. Lankisch, Lüneburg

Paper

Pancreatic and Small Bowel Surgery - Effects on Postoperative Quality of Life
J.R. Izbicki^a, D.C. Broering^a, C.F. Eisenberger^a, T. Kuechler^b, C. Bloechle^a

^aDepartment of General Surgery, University Hospital Eppendorf, University of Hamburg, and
^bDivision of Quality of Life Research in Oncology, Department of Surgery, University of Kiel, Germany

Address of Corresponding Author

Pancreatology 2001;1:62-70 (DOI: 10.1159/000055894)

Abstract

Incorporation of quality of life aspects in daily medical activities is common for every physician. Academic comprehension of quality of life as a criterion of therapeutic success is unaccustomed to many. Especially surgeons tend to trust rather in 'hard' data such as mortality and morbidity rates, and are reluctant to engage in 'soft' data referred by quality of life assessment. There is, however, also a tendency to mention the term quality of life in order to promote publication of scientific work, without the prerequisite of adequate academic apprehension of the necessary psychometric tools. Systematic, scientifically profound incorporation of quality of life assessment as a relevant therapeutic endpoint is still in the process of being commonly accepted. Cost-effectiveness studies, which are increasingly enforced in our health care system, will contribute to accept quality of life evaluation as the decisive criterion equal to survival. This task will be crucial in all medical disciplines including surgery. This review summarizes the achievements, the shortcommings, the needs and the goals in the field of quality of life assessment following pancreatic and small bowel surgery towards a better understanding of quality of life as a decisive parameter of evidence-based medicine.

Author Contacts

Jakob R. Izbicki, MD, PhD
Department of General Surgery, University Hospital Eppendorf
University of Hamburg, Martinistrasse 52
D-20246 Hamburg (Germany)
Tel. +49 40 42803 2401, Fax +49 40 42803 4995

Article Information

Number of Print Pages : 9
Number of Figures : 1, Number of Tables : 4, Number of References : 59

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