Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29485893›Full record

SynthesisThe British journal of radiology2018

Use of imaging for pre- and post-operative characterisation of ventral hernia: systematic review.

Steve Halligan, Sam G Parker, Andrew A O Plumb, Chris Pj Wood, Richard W Bolton, Susan Mallett, Alastair Cj Windsor

Open access · greenAbstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in The British journal of radiology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.4field-weighted citation impact, top 20% of its field
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

7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. A simplified method to evaluate the loss of domain.Hernia : the journal of hernias and abdominal wall surgery · 2022
    Article
  6. Article
  7. The role of imaging in obesity special feature.The British journal of radiology · 2018
    Article
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

7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Steve Halligan1 Centre for Medical Imaging, University College London, Charles Bell House , London , UK.
Sam G Parker2 Department of Surgery, The Abdominal Wall Unit, University College Hospital , London , UK.
Andrew A O Plumb1 Centre for Medical Imaging, University College London, Charles Bell House , London , UK.
Chris Pj Wood2 Department of Surgery, The Abdominal Wall Unit, University College Hospital , London , UK.
Richard W Bolton2 Department of Surgery, The Abdominal Wall Unit, University College Hospital , London , UK.
Susan Mallett3 Institute of Applied Health Sciences, University of Birmingham , Edgbaston , UK.
Alastair Cj Windsor2 Department of Surgery, The Abdominal Wall Unit, University College Hospital , London , UK.
University College Hospital · GBUniversity College London · GBUniversity of Birmingham · GB

Funding

Department of Health PB-PG-0816-20005
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveComplex ventral hernia (CVH) repair is performed increasingly, exacerbated by the obesity epidemic. Imaging can characterise hernia morphology and diagnose recurrence. By systematic review we investigated the extent to which studies employ imaging.

methodsThe PubMed database was searched for studies of ventral hernia repair from January 1995 to March 2016. Hernias of all size were eligible. Independent reviewers screened articles and extracted data from selected studies related to study design, use of pre- and post-operative hernia imaging and the proportion of subjects imaged. The review was registered: PROSPERO CRD42016043071.

results15,771 records were identified initially. 174 full-texts were examined and 158 ultimately included in the systematic review [31 randomised controlled trials (RCTs); 32 cohort studies; 95 retrospective cohort studies]. 31,874 subjects were reported overall. Only 19 (12%) studies employed pre-operative imaging for hernia characterisation and 46 (29%) post-operatively [equating to 511 (2%) of all pre-operative subjects and 1123 (4%) post-operative]. Furthermore, most studies employing imaging did not do so in all subjects: Just 6 (4%) of the 158 studies used imaging in all subjects pre-operatively and just 4 (3%) post-operatively, i.e. imaging was usually applied to a proportion of patients only. Moreover, the exact proportion was frequently not specified. Studies using imaging frequently stated that "imaging", "radiography" or "radiology" was used but did not specify the modality precisely nor the proportion of subjects imaged.

conclusionDespite the ability to characterise ventral hernia morphology and recurrence with precision, most indexed studies do not employ imaging. Where imaging is used, data are often reported incompletely. Advances in knowledge: (1) This systematic review is the first to focus on the use of imaging in surgical studies of ventral hernia repair. (2) Studies of ventral hernia repair rarely use imaging, either to characterise hernias pre-operatively or to diagnose recurrence, despite the latter being the primary outcome of most studies. (3) Failure to use imaging will result in incomplete hernia characterisation and underestimate recurrence rates in studies of surgical repair.

Indexed as

Diagnostic ImagingHernia, VentralHumansObesityPerioperative Period

Identifiers

PMID29485893
PMCPMC6223174
OpenAlexW2789048041

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

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.