Systematic reviews in surgery-recommendations from the Study Center of the German Society of Surgery

Eva Kalkum; Rosa Klotz; Svenja Seide; Felix J Hüttner; Karl-Friedrich Kowalewski; Felix Nickel; Elias Khajeh; Phillip Knebel; Markus K Diener; Pascal Probst

doi:10.1007/s00423-021-02204-x

Systematic reviews in surgery-recommendations from the Study Center of the German Society of Surgery

Langenbecks Arch Surg. 2021 Sep;406(6):1723-1731. doi: 10.1007/s00423-021-02204-x. Epub 2021 Jun 15.

Authors

Eva Kalkum¹, Rosa Klotz^{1

2}, Svenja Seide³, Felix J Hüttner⁴, Karl-Friedrich Kowalewski⁵, Felix Nickel², Elias Khajeh², Phillip Knebel^{1

2}, Markus K Diener¹, Pascal Probst^{6

7}

Affiliations

¹ Study Center of the German Society of Surgery (SDGC), University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 130.3, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.
² Department of General, Visceral and Transplantation Surgery, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 420, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.
³ Institute of Medical Biometry and Informatics, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 130.3, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.
⁴ Department of General and Visceral Surgery, University Hospital Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 23, 89081, Ulm, Germany.
⁵ Department of Urology and Urological Surgery, University Medical Center Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Theodor-Kutzer-Ufer 1-3, 68167, Mannheim, Germany.
⁶ Study Center of the German Society of Surgery (SDGC), University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 130.3, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany. pascal.probst@med.uni-heidelberg.de.
⁷ Department of General, Visceral and Transplantation Surgery, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 420, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany. pascal.probst@med.uni-heidelberg.de.

Abstract

Background: Systematic reviews are an important tool of evidence-based surgery. Surgical systematic reviews and trials, however, require a special methodological approach.

Purpose: This article provides recommendations for conducting state-of-the-art systematic reviews in surgery with or without meta-analysis.

Conclusions: For systematic reviews in surgery, MEDLINE (via PubMed), Web of Science, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) should be searched. Critical appraisal is at the core of every surgical systematic review, with information on blinding, industry involvement, surgical experience, and standardisation of surgical technique holding special importance. Due to clinical heterogeneity among surgical trials, the random-effects model should be used as a default. In the experience of the Study Center of the German Society of Surgery, adherence to these recommendations yields high-quality surgical systematic reviews.

Keywords: Evidence-based medicine; Meta-analysis; Surgery; Synoptic evidence; Systematic review.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Humans
Practice Guidelines as Topic
Societies, Medical
Surgical Procedures, Operative*
Systematic Reviews as Topic*