Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33559556›Full record

ArticleAnnals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England2021

The laparoscopy in emergency general surgery (LEGS) study: a questionnaire survey of UK practice.

N Heywood, K L Parmar, M Stott, P Sodde, D T Doherty, J Lim, A Sharma, LEGS Study Group* and the North West Research Collaborative

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

Article in Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
11citing papers in PubMed
2.7field-weighted citation impact, top 10% 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

11 citing papers in PubMed, 18 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Observational
  2. Robotic surgery in emergency general surgery: an overview of UK practice.World journal of emergency surgery : WJES · 2025
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Outcomes of emergency laparoscopy in the elderly.Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England · 2022
    Observational
  11. 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

8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

N HeywoodGeneral Surgery Training Programme, Health Education North West England, Manchester, UK.
K L ParmarGeneral Surgery Training Programme, Health Education North West England, Manchester, UK.
M StottGeneral Surgery Training Programme, Health Education North West England, Manchester, UK.
P SoddeGeneral Surgery Training Programme, Health Education North West England, Manchester, UK.
D T DohertyGeneral Surgery Training Programme, Health Education North West England, Manchester, UK.
J LimGeneral Surgery Training Programme, Health Education North West England, Manchester, UK.
A SharmaManchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK.
LEGS Study Group* and the North West Research Collaborative
Health Education North West · GBManchester University NHS Foundation Trust · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionRecent consensus guidelines suggest that the laparoscopic approach may be a useful, safe and feasible approach in emergency general surgery. Despite this, the UK National Emergency Laparotomy Audit (NELA) suggests the rate of laparoscopy is low (9% fully laparoscopic) and slow to increase over time. A European survey found uptake to be variable. This UK survey was therefore undertaken to establish current UK practice and to determine factors affecting implementation. MATERIALS AND

methodsA questionnaire survey of currently practising UK consultant general surgeons was carried out by the North West Surgical Research Collaborative, using a secure web-based database maintained by the North West Surgical Trials Centre.

resultsA total of 151 completed questionnaires were returned from 22 UK centres; 18% of respondents were unaware that laparoscopic cases should be reported to NELA. Appendicectomy (97%) and cholecystectomy (87%) were routinely performed laparoscopically. Laparoscopy was infrequently used in perforation, ischaemia or obstructed hernias. There appears to be equipoise regarding laparoscopic compared with open surgery in small-bowel obstruction among all subspecialty emergency general surgeons, in perforated peptic ulcer among upper gastrointestinal surgeons and in Hinchey III diverticulitis among colorectal surgeons.

conclusionUptake of laparoscopy in UK emergency general surgery is influenced by surgeon preference, subspecialty, patient and operative factors. Further research into outcomes may help to identify areas of greatest potential benefit. The rate of laparoscopy reported by NELA may be an underestimate due to the 18% of surgeons unaware that laparoscopic cases should be reported, which may affect the validity of analyses performed from this dataset.

Indexed as

ConsensusConsultantsEmergency TreatmentHumansLaparoscopyPractice Guidelines as TopicPractice Patterns, Physicians'SurgeonsSurveys and QuestionnairesUnited KingdomAcute abdomenAttitude of health personnelLaparoscopyLaparotomy

Identifiers

PMID33559556
PMCPMC9773896
OpenAlexW3126386180

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.