Industry Payments and Academic Influence in Reconstructive Microsurgery

Abstract

Abstract Background Financial relationships between industry and microsurgeons help facilitate innovation but have the potential to bias a surgeon's academic work. To better understand industry–academic relationships, this study investigated the association between industry payments made to microsurgeons and their academic influence. Methods A cross-sectional analysis of microsurgeons at Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education–accredited plastic surgery residency programs during the 2020–2021 academic year was performed. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Open Payments Database was used to collect industry payments (research and nonresearch related) to each surgeon. Academic influence was measured by Hirsch index (h-index) and number of publications. Mann–Whitney's U and Kruskal–Wallis' tests were used for statistical analysis. Results Of the 199 microsurgeons identified, 156 (78.39%) received an industry nonresearch payment, but 0 (0.0%) received an industry research payment. Surgeons who received any amount of industry payments did not have a higher mean h-index or higher mean number of publications than surgeons with no industry payments. However, surgeons with total industry payments more than $10,000 (n = 15) had a higher number of publications than surgeons with no industry payments (135.47 vs. 36.02, p = 0.0074), $1 to $1,000 in payments (135.47 vs. 34.37, p = 0.0006), and $1,000 to $10,000 in payments (135.47 vs. 45.43, p = 0.0268). Surgeons with total industry payments more than $10,000 also had higher h-indices than surgeons with $1 to $1,000 in payments (24.4 vs. 10.34, p = 0.0039) and $1,000 to $10,000 in payments (24.4 vs. 11.34, p = 0.0413). Conclusion Industry funding is associated with higher h-index and higher number of publications for high earners (> $10,000). Private companies may favor these surgeons for their academic expertise.