ReviewThe British journal of surgery2023
Two decades of surgical randomized controlled trials: worldwide trends in volume and methodological quality.
Review in The British journal of surgery, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Quality assurance of surgical interventions for pancreatic cancer: systematic review of multicentre randomized clinical trials.BJS open · 2025Pooled it
- A literature review and reflection on clinical trials: current challenges, future directions, and potential strategies to overcome practical barriers.AME clinical trials review · 2026Article
- Facelift Randomized Controlled Trials Compliance With CONSORT Checklist: A Systematic Review.Aesthetic surgery journal. Open forum · 2026Review
- Global funding for surgical research between 2016 and 2020: content analysis of public and philanthropic investments.The British journal of surgery · 2025Article
- Robotic-assisted surgery in the Arab world: are we there yet?Journal of robotic surgery · 2025Review
- Extracapsular Dissection Versus Traditional Parotid Surgery: A Comprehensive Review of Techniques and Outcomes.Cureus · 2024Review
- Reconsidering nephron-sparing strategies for the management of small renal tumors: a call for the inclusion of level 1 evidence in the debate.Translational andrology and urology · 2024Article
- Exploration of registration and the risk of bias in acupuncture randomised controlled trials: a systematic review protocol.BMJ open · 2024Article
- Methodological review to develop a list of bias items for adaptive clinical trials: Protocol and rationale.PloS one · 2024Article
- Adaptive clinical trials in surgery: A scoping review of methodological and reporting quality.PloS one · 2024Article
- Comment on: Two decades of surgical randomized controlled trials: worldwide trends in volume and methodological quality.The British journal of surgery · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundRCTs are essential in guiding clinical decision-making but are difficult to perform, especially in surgery. This review assessed the trend in volume and methodological quality of published surgical RCTs over two decades.
methodsPubMed was searched systematically for surgical RCTs published in 1999, 2009, and 2019. The primary outcomes were volume of trials and RCTs with a low risk of bias. Secondary outcomes were clinical, geographical, and funding characteristics.
resultsSome 1188 surgical RCTs were identified, of which 300 were published in 1999, 450 in 2009, and 438 in 2019. The most common subspecialty in 2019 was gastrointestinal surgery (50.7 per cent). The volume of surgical RCTs increased mostly in Asia (61, 159, and 199 trials), especially in China (7, 40, and 81). In 2019, countries with the highest relative volume of published surgical RCTs were Finland and the Netherlands. Between 2009 and 2019, the proportion of RCTs with a low risk of bias increased from 14.7 to 22.1 per cent (P = 0.004). In 2019, the proportion of trials with a low risk of bias was highest in Europe (30.5 per cent), with the UK and the Netherlands as leaders in this respect.
conclusionThe volume of published surgical RCTs worldwide remained stable in the past decade but their methodological quality improved. Considerable geographical shifts were observed, with Asia and especially China leading in terms of volume. Individual European countries are leading in their relative volume and methodological quality of surgical RCTs.
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