Status quo of vascular surgery in Germany

The objective of this article is to evaluate vascular epidemiology in Germany. In addition, it aims to assess the health care provision of the German population with respect to vascular surgery and vascular medicine. The Federal Health Monitoring report including basic data on hospitals as well as detailed data from the diagnosis-related-groups statistics was used for analyses. Furthermore, annual statistics from the German Medical Association and the German Federation were evaluated. On 30 December 2011, there were 1,736 general hospitals holding 256 vascular surgery departments. On that cut-off date, a total of 1,282 vascular surgeons were employed with 19% of them working in outpatient care or as resident physicians. The incidence of vascular diseases is increasing, particularly in terms of the peripheral artery occlusive disease (PAOD). While endovascular approaches are preferably used for treating aortic aneurysms and PAOD, open surgery is mainly applied to treat carotid stenosis or acute/critical limb ischemia. Due to the implementation of a mono-speciality for vascular surgery, the discipline has gained a considerable amount of attractiveness. On average, about 130 young surgeons annually pass the German specialist examination, The German Vascular Society (DGG) was founded in 1984 and has more than 2,000 members yet. Further professionalization of the DGG and its members was promoted by introduction of a certification process for vascular centres as well as by implementation of advanced training programs for qualifying as endovascular surgeon(DGG), endovascular specialist(DGG) or vascular assistant(DGG). In Germany, vascular surgery plays a major role in the treatment of vascular diseases. Endovascular therapy is gaining importance for treating arterial diseases. The DGG is promoting further professionalization of its members by providing additional qualification programs for physicians and other health care professionals.     «

The objective of this article is to evaluate vascular epidemiology in Germany. In addition, it aims to assess the health care provision of the German population with respect to vascular surgery and vascular medicine. The Federal Health Monitoring report including basic data on hospitals as well as detailed data from the diagnosis-related-groups statistics was used for analyses. Furthermore, annual statistics from the German Medical Association and the German Federation were evaluated. On 30 Dece...     »