People with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) who undergo robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (RAPN) at higher volume hospitals appear to experience better perioperative outcomes and have lower rates of positive surgical margin, according to a study involving nearly 19,000 individuals. Participants with RCC underwent RAPN between 2010 and 2013. Investigators grouped cases into very low-, low-, medium-, high-, and very high-volume categories, and evaluated certain outcomes. Among the results:

• There were no significant differences in 30- and 90-day mortality rates across groups.
• Patients at very high-volume centers were 53% less likely to experience open conversion than those at very low-volume centers.
• Patients at high-, medium-, and low-volume centers were also less likely to experience conversion (43%, 40%, and 12%, respectively)
• Those at very high-, high-, medium-, and low-volume centers were less likely to experience prolonged length of stay (55%, 38%, 25%, and 7%, respectively).
• They were also less likely to experience positive surgical margin (66%, 41%, 24%, and 24%, respectively).