Two decades of surgical randomized controlled trials: worldwide trends in volume and methodological quality.

ABSTRACT:

Background

RCTs 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.

Methods

PubMed 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.

Results

Some 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 Chi

SUBMITTER: Pronk AJM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10480038 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature