Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29989045›Full record

ArticleBMJ global health2018

Perioperative mortality rates in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Joshua S Ng-Kamstra, Sumedha Arya, Sarah L M Greenberg, Meera Kotagal, Catherine Arsenault, David Ljungman, Rachel R Yorlets, Arnav Agarwal, Claudia Frankfurter, Anton Nikouline and 11 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ global health, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
41citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
–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

41 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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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

21 authors.

Joshua S Ng-KamstraDepartment of Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.ORCID 0000-0001-9335-2061
Sumedha AryaDepartment of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Sarah L M GreenbergProgram in Global Surgery and Social Change, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Meera KotagalProgram in Global Surgery and Social Change, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Catherine ArsenaultDepartment of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan school of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
David LjungmanProgram in Global Surgery and Social Change, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Rachel R YorletsDepartment of Plastic and Oral Surgery, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Arnav AgarwalFaculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Claudia FrankfurterFaculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Anton NikoulineDivision of Emergency Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Francis Yi Xing LaiSkin and Cancer Foundation, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Charlotta L PalmqvistFaculty of Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
Terence FuDepartment of Otolaryngology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Tahrin MahmoodFaculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Sneha RajuDepartment of Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Sristi SharmaProgram in Global Surgery and Social Change, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Isobel H MarksProgram in Global Surgery and Social Change, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-3544-4512
Alexis BowderProgram in Global Surgery and Social Change, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Lebei PiDepartment of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
John G MearaProgram in Global Surgery and Social Change, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Mark G ShrimeProgram in Global Surgery and Social Change, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introduction

methodsWe did a systematic review of studies from LMICs published from 2009 to 2014 reporting POMR for any surgical procedure. We extracted select variables in duplicate from each included study and pooled estimates of POMR by type of procedure using random-effects meta-analysis of proportions and the Freeman-Tukey double arcsine transformation to stabilise variances.

resultsWe included 985 studies conducted across 83 LMICs, covering 191 types of surgical procedures performed on 1 020 869 patients. Pooled POMR ranged from less than 0.1% for appendectomy, cholecystectomy and caesarean delivery to 20%-27% for typhoid intestinal perforation, intracranial haemorrhage and operative head injury. We found no consistent associations between procedure-specific POMR and Human Development Index (HDI) or income-group apart from emergency peripartum hysterectomy POMR, which appeared higher in low-income countries. Inpatient mortality was the most commonly used definition, though only 46.2% of studies explicitly defined the time frame during which deaths accrued.

conclusionsEfforts to improve access to surgical care in LMICs should be accompanied by investment in improving the quality and safety of care. To improve the usefulness of POMR as a safety benchmark, standard reporting items should be included with any POMR estimate. Choosing a basket of procedures for which POMR is tracked may offer institutions and countries the standardisation required to meaningfully compare surgical outcomes across contexts and improve population health outcomes.

Indexed as

global surgeryperioperative mortalitysurgical outcomessystematic review

Identifiers

PMID29989045
PMCPMC6035511

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.