The STS General Thoracic Surgery Database: Task Force Chair Shares Insights, Updates

Christopher Seder, MD, of Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) General Thoracic Surgery Database Task Force, joined Lung Cancers Today to discuss the database and related resources.

“The STS database is the largest thoracic surgery database in the world,” Dr. Seder explained. “It’s audited, and it’s been in existence for over 20 years.”

The database, which contains nearly 1 million records from operations, can be used in multiple ways. For example, Dr. Seder recently presented a large, real-world study at the STS Annual Meeting that used information from the database.

“The STS database is extraordinarily valuable, not only for research purposes, but for its initial purpose, which was to be a quality improvement database, and we’re working toward that every single day with our members and our participants,” Dr. Seder said.

The organization has recently implemented new approaches to add value to the database and support those who contribute to it and use it.

“The most recent exciting thing we’ve created is both short-term as well as long-term risk calculators based on our data,” Dr. Seder said.

The STS Risk Calculators can provide support for clinical decision making and communication with patients about surgical risks and benefits with different procedures.

“By taking the same patient and then toggling between different operations, you could potentially get a sense… of exactly how a different operation may provide different results both in the short and long term for a given patient,” Dr. Seder explained.