ArticleAnnals of surgery2018
Improving Benchmarks for Global Surgery: Nationwide Enumeration of Operations Performed in Ghana.
Article in Annals of surgery, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Systematic review of the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery indicators with quality assessment of modelled estimates.The British journal of surgery · 2026Pooled it
- Are LMICs Achieving the Lancet Commission Global Benchmark for Surgical Volumes? A Systematic Review.World journal of surgery · 2023Pooled it
- Care of Injured Children Compared to Adults at District and Regional Hospitals in Ghana and the Impact of a Trauma Intake Form: A Stepped-Wedge Cluster Randomized Trial.Journal of pediatric surgery · 2024Trial
- Differences in trauma care between district and regional hospitals and impact of a trauma intake form with decision support prompts in Ghana: A stepped-wedge cluster randomized trial.World journal of surgery · 2024Trial
- Standardized trauma intake form with clinical decision support prompts improves care and reduces mortality for seriously injured patients in non-tertiary hospitals in Ghana: stepped-wedge cluster randomized trial.The British journal of surgery · 2023Trial
- Retrospective analysis of a surgical service in a rural district hospital in the Eastern Cape.South African family practice : official journal of the South African Academy of Family Practice/Primary Care · 2026Article
- Surgical Volume in Sierra Leone: A Comparison Between Population and Facility-Based Data Collection.World journal of surgery · 2025Article
- Structured hernia surgery training program for general practitioners in Rwanda - feasibility and evaluation.Hernia : the journal of hernias and abdominal wall surgery · 2025Article
- Exploring the concept of surgical transition: surgical activity in the light of economic development in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana and India.Frontiers in surgery · 2025Article
- The need for hands-on training and supervision for entry-level physicians in a country with low surgical staffing density: a nationwide survey in Ghana.BMC medical education · 2023Article
- The state of surgery, obstetrics, trauma, and anaesthesia care in Ghana: a narrative review.Global health action · 2022Review
- Achievement of Key Performance Indicators in Initial Assessment and Care of Injured Patients in Ghanaian Non-tertiary Hospitals: An Observational Study.World journal of surgery · 2022Observational
- Article
- Improving Global Surgical Oncology Benchmarks: Defining the Unmet Need for Cancer Surgery in Ghana.World journal of surgery · 2021Article
- Nationwide enumeration of emergency operations performed in Ghana.European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society · 2021Article
- Article
- Letter to the Editor: Which Surgical Operations Should be Performed in District Hospitals in East, Central and Southern Africa? Results of a Survey of Regional Clinicians.World journal of surgery · 2021Article
- Injured and broke: The impacts of the Ghana National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) on service delivery and catastrophic health expenditure among seriously injured children.African journal of emergency medicine : Revue africaine de la medecine d'urgence · 2021Article
- Estimation of the National Surgical Needs in India by Enumerating the Surgical Procedures in an Urban Community Under Universal Health Coverage.World journal of surgery · 2021Article
- Public-private relationship in surgical hospitalizations through the Unified Health System.Revista latino-americana de enfermagem · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo evaluate the operation rate in Ghana and characterize it by types of procedures and hospital level.
backgroundThe Lancet Commission on Global Surgery recommended an annual rate of 5000 operations/100,000 people as a benchmark at which low- and middle-income countries could achieve most of the population-wide benefits of surgery, but did not define procedure-type benchmarks.
methodsData on operations performed from June 2014 to May 2015 were obtained from representative samples of 48 of 124 district-level (first-level) hospitals, 9 of 11 regional (referral) hospitals, and 3 of 5 tertiary hospitals, and scaled-up to nationwide estimates. Operations were categorized into those deemed as essential procedures (most cost-effective, highest population impact) by the World Bank's Disease Control Priorities Project versus other.
resultsAn estimated 232,776 [95% uncertainty interval (95% UI) 178,004 to 287,549] operations were performed nationally. The annual rate of operations was 869 of 100,000 (95% UI 664 to 1073). The rate fell well short of the benchmark. 77% of the estimated annual national surgical output was in the essential procedure category. Most operations (62%) were performed at district-level hospitals. Most district-level hospitals (54%) did not have fully trained surgeons, but nonetheless performed 36% of district-level hospital operations.
conclusionThe operation rate was short of the Lancet Commission benchmark, indicating large unmet need, although most operations were in the essential procedure category. Future global surgery benchmarking should consider both total numbers and priority levels. Most surgical care was delivered at district-level hospitals, many without fully trained surgeons. Benchmarking to improve surgical care needs to address both access deficiencies and hospital and provider level.
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