Computerized Registry for Endovascular Interventions

A vascular registry is a clinical and research tool based on the collected clinical data of patients treated by an individual or group of vascular specialists. In its simplest form, this may be a box of index cards upon which are written data such as the patient’s name, age, date of surgery, and procedure performed. When analyzed at a later stage the specialist could determine patient volume for a given time period, average age, and most frequently performed procedures. Such a database is referred to as a flat database. Such databases can become extremely complex with thousands of data points recorded including variables such as risk factors, medications, techniques (e.g., stents used, procedure time), etc. Under such circumstances the use of the computer becomes a significant time saver. A computerized database offers many conveniences that will speed up data entry and retrieval and also add the benefit of assuring uniformity of data collection. For example, entry of a specific procedure can be achieved by clicking on a drop-down menu which lists alphabetically all the many hundred procedures that the vascular specialist may perform. By typing in the first letter of the procedure the cursor will be taken directly to the relevant group of procedures allowing a single mouse click to insert what may be a very complex procedure. This will also prevent the user from using different phraseology for the procedure that may at a later stage complicate data retrieval. As an example one may refer to a procedure as a “femoropopliteal stent graft” or a “stent graft—femoropopliteal” and these two would be seen as differing procedures when in fact they are the same.