ArticleBMJ open2019
What is an invasive procedure? A definition to inform study design, evidence synthesis and research tracking.
Article in BMJ open, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 55 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
55 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Risk assessment and prevention of postoperative and postprocedural respiratory failure: recommendations from an international expert panel.British journal of anaesthesia · 2026Guideline
- Continuity of outcome assessment throughout the lifecycle of surgical research: mapping core outcome domains measured in early phase and late phase studies.BMC surgery · 2025Pooled it
- Identifying and reporting modifications to surgical innovation: a systematic review of IDEAL/IDEAL-D studies.BMJ open · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- A systematic review of reporting quality for anaesthetic interventions in randomised controlled trials.Anaesthesia · 2021Pooled it
- ECT is not an invasive therapy.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2026Article
- Review
- Seroprevalence of anti-AAV neutralizing antibodiesin healthy and retinitis pigmentosa cohorts: A multi-province study in China.Molecular therapy. Advances · 2026Article
- Comparing artificial intelligence and healthcare professional performance in surgical and interventional video analysis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.NPJ digital medicine · 2026Article
- Article
- Article
- Information standards for innovative surgery: what patients need to know.The British journal of surgery · 2025Article
- Use of artificial intelligence in the analysis of digital videos of invasive surgical procedures: scoping review.BJS open · 2025Article
- Perceptions and Practices of Clinicians Undertaking Invasive Procedures With Patients Experiencing Delirium in Hospital: A Sequential Mixed Methods Study.Nursing & health sciences · 2025Article
- Article
- Towards device technologies non-invasive to our daily lives.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Metabolic interactions: how gut microbial metabolites influence colorectal cancer.Frontiers in microbiology · 2025Review
- Macromolecule Modelling for Improved Metabolite Quantification Using Short Echo Time BrainNMR in biomedicine · 2025Article
- The Efficacy of Aromatherapy on Pain and Anxiety During Needle-Related Procedures in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of pain research · 2025Review
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Worldwide, there are at least 230 million invasive procedures performed annually and most of us will undergo several in our lifetime. There is therefore a need for high-quality evidence to underpin this clinical area. Currently, however, there is no widely accepted definition of an invasive procedure and the terms 'surgery' and 'interventional procedure' are characterised inconsistently. We propose a definition for invasive procedures which addresses the limitations of those currently available. Our definition was developed from an analysis of the 3946 papers from the last decade. A preliminary definition was created based on existing definitions and applied to a variety of papers reporting all types of procedures. This definition was continuously updated and applied iteratively to all articles. The definition has three key components: (1) method of access to the body, (2) instrumentation and (3) requirement for operator skill. It therefore encapsulates all types of invasive procedure regardless of the method of access to the body (incision, natural orifice or percutaneous access), and is relevant whatever the clinical discipline (eg, obstetric, cardiac, dental, interventional cardiology or radiology). Crucially, the definition excludes medicinal products, except where their administration occurs within an invasive procedure (and thereby involves operator skill). The application of a universal definition of an invasive procedure will (1) inform the selection of relevant methods for study design, (2) streamline evidence synthesis and (3) improve research tracking, helping to identify evidence gaps and direct research funds.
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Registered trials
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.