Observational studyBMC health services research2026
The low data fidelity of human-based informatics in surgical instrument waste reduction: is it time for objective computer vision integration?
Observational study in BMC health services research, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundUnused but sterilized surgical instruments generate substantial financial and environmental waste. Tray optimization commonly relies on human-based education, feedback, and manual documentation, yet data fidelity remains uncertain.
methodsWe conducted a retrospective pre–post observational analysis of a human-based tray optimization initiative involving six surgeons across multiple procedures. Utilization was defined as the ratio of instruments used to those opened per case. Adherence, data capture, and variability across surgeons and procedures were assessed.
resultsMean utilization increased from 0.335 to 0.548 (+ 63.6%). However, changes varied widely across surgeons (+ 0.103 to + 0.418), and one procedure showed decreased utilization. Critically, data capture was low and declined from 24.7% to 15.3%, indicating inconsistent participation and limited data fidelity.
conclusionsDespite improved average utilization, poor data fidelity, participation imbalance, and outcome variability constrain interpretation of human-based optimization efforts. Objective, automated approaches such as computer vision may support more reliable and scalable waste reduction.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.