Standardized care pathways for patients with suspected urinary bladder cancer: the Swedish experience

Authors

  • Suleiman Abuhasanein
  • Staffan Jahnson
  • Firas Aljabery
  • Truls Gårdmark
  • Tomas Jerlström
  • Fredrik Liedberg
  • Amir Sherif
  • Viveka Ströck
  • Henrik Kjölhede

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1080/21681805.2022.2058605

Abstract

Abstract Objectives To compare time intervals to diagnosis and treatment, tumor characteristics, and management in patients with primary urinary bladder cancer, diagnosed before and after the implementation of a standardized care pathway (SCP) in Sweden. Materials and methods Data from the Swedish National Register of Urinary Bladder Cancer was studied before (2011–2015) and after (2016–2019) SCP. Data about time from referral to transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT), patients and tumor characteristics, and management were analyzed. Subgroup analyses were performed for cT1 and cT2–4 tumors. Results Out of 26,795 patients, median time to TURBT decreased from 37 to 27 days after the implementation of SCP. While the proportion of cT2–T4 tumors decreased slightly (22–21%, p  Conclusion After the implementation of SCP, time from referral to TURBT decreased and the proportion of patients discussed at MDTC increased, although not at the levels recommended by guidelines. Thus, our findings point to the need for measures to increase adherence to SCP recommendations and to guidelines.

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Published

2022-05-04

How to Cite

Abuhasanein, S., Jahnson, S., Aljabery, F., Gårdmark, T., Jerlström, T., Liedberg, F., Sherif, A., Ströck, V., & Kjölhede, H. (2022). Standardized care pathways for patients with suspected urinary bladder cancer: the Swedish experience. Scandinavian Journal of Urology, 56(3), 227–232. https://doi.org/10.1080/21681805.2022.2058605

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Articles