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The following is a summary of “Dictation Precision: Evaluating Paediatric Oncology Operative Reports as an Impetus for Synoptic Reports,” published in the February 2025 issue of Pediatrics by Petrushkevich et al.

This study aims to audit pediatric surgical oncology dictations to assess the completeness and ease of data collection, establishing a baseline for implementing synoptic operative reports (SORs) in a tertiary care setting. The audit focuses on four specific pediatric tumors: Germ Cell Tumors, Wilms Tumors, Neuroblastoma, and Hepatoblastoma, spanning cases from 2010 to 2023.

An audit tool was developed based on the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) protocols to evaluate the completeness of surgical and tumor-specific data within operative reports. A total of 71 cases were audited, with Wilms Tumor representing the majority at 45.1%, followed by Neuroblastoma at 29.6%, Germ Cell Tumors at 18.3%, and Hepatoblastoma at 7.0%. The results revealed a concerningly low average percentage of complete data across all tumor types, with general oncological information averaging 66.0% completeness and tumor-specific details only achieving 42.0%. Among the tumor types audited, Ovarian Germ Cell Tumors had the highest completeness rate at 65.9%, while Neuroblastoma and Hepatoblastoma showed significantly lower rates at 15.0% and 9.5%, respectively.

The median time required for data collection during audits was recorded at 6.0 minutes, with a median transcription delay from operation to report generation of 1.0 days (interquartile range: 1.0–7.0). These findings highlight the inadequacies of narrative operative reports, particularly regarding critical tumor-specific factors that are vital for accurate diagnosis and treatment planning in pediatric oncology.

In conclusion, the audit underscores significant gaps in the completeness of narrative operative reports in pediatric surgical oncology, especially concerning essential tumor-specific information. The implementation of synoptic operative reports could address these deficiencies by enhancing data completeness and accessibility, ultimately improving patient care and facilitating better treatment outcomes for children with cancer. Future efforts should focus on transitioning to SORs to standardize documentation practices and ensure comprehensive data capture in pediatric surgical oncology settings.

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022346825000314