European Association of Endoscopic Surgery (EAES) Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee: standard operating procedure.

introductionThe European Association of Endoscopic Surgery (EAES) promotes surgical innovation, education, and quality assurance to optimize patient care. A core component of this work is the development of clinical practice guidelines.

methodsWe outline the standard operating procedure for clinical practice guideline development within the EAES. We adhere to standards outlined by the Guidelines International Network (GIN), core Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE), and Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation for guidelines of surgical interventions (AGREE-S). PROCESS: For all guidelines, the panel prioritizes outcomes and establishes decision thresholds for each PICO by converting utility values to absolute effect difference thresholds. Next, the systematic review group performs a comprehensive systematic review followed by a meta-analysis and/or network meta-analysis including rating of the certainty of evidence in line with core GRADE. An interdisciplinary panel of interest holders including patient partners then reviews this evidence using summary of findings tables and develops recommendations using the GRADE evidence-to-decision framework under the guidance of a guideline methodologist.

conclusionEAES develops clinical practice guidelines according to the highest methodological standards to summarize evidence and provide health recommendations for a wide range of interest holders including clinicians, patients, researchers, and policymakers.