Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41369647›Full record

Trial reportThe British journal of surgery2025

Outcomes after elective inguinal hernia repair with mesh performed by associate clinicians versus medical doctors in Sierra Leone: 5-year follow-up of a randomized clinical trial.

Thomas Ashley, Hannah F Ashley, Andreas Wladis, Pär Nordin, Michael Ohene-Yeboah, Isaac O Smalle, Jessica H Beard, Jenny Löfgren, Håkon A Bolkan, Alex J van Duinen

Abstract readRandomized Controlled TrialComparative Study
In one paragraph

Trial report in The British journal of surgery, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

10 authors.

Thomas AshleyDepartment of Surgery, University of Sierra Leone Teaching Hospital Complex (USLTHC), Connaught Hospital, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Hannah F AshleyCapaCare, Masanga, Sierra Leone.
Andreas WladisDepartment of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
Pär NordinDepartment of Surgical and Perioperative Sciences, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
Michael Ohene-YeboahDepartment of Surgery, University of Ghana Medical School, Korle Bu, Accra, Ghana.
Isaac O SmalleDepartment of Surgery, University of Sierra Leone Teaching Hospital Complex (USLTHC), Connaught Hospital, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Jessica H BeardDepartment of Surgery, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Jenny LöfgrenDepartment of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.ORCID 0000-0001-5884-0369
Håkon A BolkanCapaCare, Masanga, Sierra Leone.ORCID 0000-0002-9609-4093
Alex J van DuinenCapaCare, Masanga, Sierra Leone.ORCID 0000-0002-6943-0100

Funding

Norwegian University of Science and TechnologyNTNU
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundInguinal hernia repair is one of the most performed surgical procedures, but, nevertheless, there is a high unmet need, with over 200 million people worldwide living with an inguinal hernia. The aims of this study were to evaluate 5-year outcomes after anterior mesh inguinal hernia repair, to assess the safety of a training intervention, and to compare the outcomes of patients operated on by a medical doctor (MD) versus an associate clinician (AC).

methodsAdult men with a primary inguinal hernia were included either as training patients or in the randomized trial, with surgical treatment performed by an MD or an AC. Patients were followed up mostly at hospital or at home; questionnaire information was collected and physical examinations were performed. Outcomes of training and trial patients were compared and outcomes of patients who underwent surgeries performed by MDs or ACs during the trial were compared.

resultsIn total, 129 patients were included in the training group and 229 patients were included in the randomized trial group. At 5-year follow-up, 288 patients (80.4%) were alive, 40 patients (11.2%) had died, and 30 patients (8.4%) were lost to follow-up. The overall recurrence rate was 5.0% and the all-cause mortality rate was 11.2%. Mortality and recurrence were not significantly different between the training and trial patients or between the patients who underwent surgeries performed by MDs or ACs during the trial.

conclusionLong-term outcomes after primary elective inguinal mesh hernia repair indicate that hands-on short-course training can be implemented effectively and that task sharing is safe and effective.

Indexed as

Elective Surgical ProceduresHernia, InguinalHerniorrhaphySurgical MeshAdultAgedFollow-Up StudiesHumansMaleMiddle AgedSierra LeoneTreatment Outcome

Identifiers

PMID41369647
PMCPMC12690658

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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.