Outcomes After Elective Inguinal Hernia Repair Performed by Associate Clinicians vs Medical Doctors in Sierra Leone: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Task sharing of surgical duties with medical doctors (MDs) without formal surgical training and associate clinicians (ACs; health care workers corresponding to an educational level between that of a nurse and an MD) is practiced to provide surgical services to people in low-resource settings. The safety and effectiveness of this has not been fully evaluated through a randomized clinical trial.

Objective

To determine whether task sharing with MDs and ACs is safe and effective in mesh hernia repair in Sierra Leone.

Design, setting, and participants

This single-blind, noninferiority randomized clinical trial included adult, healthy men with primary inguinal hernia randomized to receiving surgical treatment from an MD or an AC. In Sierra Leone, ACs practicing s

SUBMITTER: Ashley T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7801936 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature