Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27125680›Full record

SynthesisWorld journal of surgery2016

Postoperative Adverse Events Inconsistently Improved by the World Health Organization Surgical Safety Checklist: A Systematic Literature Review of 25 Studies.

Elzerie de Jager, Chloe McKenna, Lynne Bartlett, Ronny Gunnarsson, Yik-Hong Ho

Abstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in World journal of surgery, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
22citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

22 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Surgical site infections occurrence and associated risk factors: a matched case-control study.Antimicrobial stewardship & healthcare epidemiology : ASHE · 2026
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  14. Safe surgery checklist: evaluation in a neotropical region.Revista do Colegio Brasileiro de Cirurgioes · 2021
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Elzerie de JagerCollege of Medicine and Dentistry, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4814, Australia. elzerie.dejager@my.jcu.edu.au.
Chloe McKennaCollege of Medicine and Dentistry, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4814, Australia.
Lynne BartlettCollege of Public Health, Medical & Veterinary Sciences, The Townsville Hospital, Townsville, QLD, 4814, Australia.
Ronny GunnarssonCairns Clinical School, College of Medicine and Dentistry, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia.
Yik-Hong HoInternational College of Surgeons, Chicago, IL, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe World Health Organization Surgical Safety Checklist (SSC) has been widely implemented in an effort to decrease surgical adverse events.

methodThis systematic literature review examined the effects of the SSC on postoperative outcomes. The review included 25 studies: two randomised controlled trials, 13 prospective and ten retrospective cohort trials. A meta-analysis was not conducted as combining observational studies of heterogeneous quality may be highly biased.

resultsThe quality of the studies was largely suboptimal; only four studies had a concurrent control group, many studies were underpowered to examine specific postoperative outcomes and teamwork-training initiatives were often combined with the implementation of the checklist, confounding the results. The effects of the checklist were largely inconsistent. Postoperative complications were examined in 20 studies; complication rates significantly decreased in ten and increased in one. Eighteen studies examined postoperative mortality. Rates significantly decreased in four and increased in one. Postoperative mortality rates were not significantly decreased in any studies in developed nations, whereas they were significantly decreased in 75 % of studies conducted in developing nations.

conclusionsThe checklist may be associated with a decrease in surgical adverse events and this effect seems to be greater in developing nations. With the observed incongruence between specific postoperative outcomes and the overall poor study designs, it is possible that many of the positive changes associated with the use of the checklist were due to temporal changes, confounding factors and publication bias.

Indexed as

ChecklistDeveloping CountriesHumansPatient SafetyPostoperative ComplicationsProspective StudiesQuality ImprovementRetrospective StudiesSurgical Procedures, OperativeWorld Health Organization

Identifiers

PMID27125680
PMCPMC4943979

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.