Skip to main content

International Trials: Surgical Research Networks

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Book cover Clinical Trials

Part of the book series: Success in Academic Surgery ((SIAS))

Abstract

Since the turn of the millennium, surgeons across the globe have responded to criticisms concerning the quality and future of surgical research. Internationally, two important initiatives have facilitated the completion of high-quality surgical trials. First, surgical trials networks spanning entire nations and continents have been established in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, and across Europe—leading to larger numbers of patients being recruited in less time than single-center studies with increased generalizability of results. Extraordinarily, these trials are led by surgical trainees (residents) and medical students. Second, the establishment of international collaborative networks has allowed a greater global research focus with extension of surgical trials to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) that has the potential for major public health gains. This chapter will examine these important initiatives, their outputs and will highlight the key requirements for the successful establishment of surgical research networks to facilitate the conduct of high-quality clinical trials in surgery.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Horton R. Surgical research or comic opera: questions, but few answers. Lancet. 1996;347(9007):984–5.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. McCall B. UK implements national programme for surgical trials. Lancet. 2013;382(9898):1083–4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Soreide K, Alderson D, Bergenfelz A, Beynon J, Connor S, Deckelbaum DL, et al. Strategies to improve clinical research in surgery through international collaboration. Lancet. 2013;382(9898):1140–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Laine C, Horton R, DeAngelis CD, Drazen JM, Frizelle FA, Godlee F, et al. Clinical trial registration—looking back and moving ahead. N Engl J Med. 2007;356(26):2734–6.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Weil RJ. The future of surgical research. PLoS Med. 2004;1(1):e13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Khajuria A, Agha RA. Surgical clinical trials—need for quantity and quality. Lancet. 2013;382(9908):1876.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Appel LJ. A primer on the design, conduct, and interpretation of clinical trials. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2006;1(6):1360–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Nepogodiev D, Chapman SJ, Kolias AG, Fitzgerald JE, Lee M, Blencowe NS, et al. The effect of trainee research collaboratives in the UK. Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2017;2(4):247–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Weiser TG, Regenbogen SE, Thompson KD, Haynes AB, Lipsitz SR, Berry WR, et al. An estimation of the global volume of surgery: a modelling strategy based on available data. Lancet. 2008;372(9633):139–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. McQueen KA, Coonan T, Derbew M, Tangi V, Bickler S, Banguti P, et al. The 2015 Bangkok Global Surgery Declaration: a call to the global health community to promote implementation of the world health assembly resolution for surgery and anaesthesia care. World J Surg. 2017;41(1):7–9.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Bhangu A, Kolias AG, Pinkney T, Hall NJ, Fitzgerald JE. Surgical research collaboratives in the UK. Lancet. 2013;382(9898):1091–2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Pinkney TD, Calvert M, Bartlett DC, Gheorghe A, Redman V, Dowswell G, et al. Impact of wound edge protection devices on surgical site infection after laparotomy: multicentre randomised controlled trial (ROSSINI Trial). BMJ. 2013;347:f4305.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. National Surgical Research C. Multicentre observational study of performance variation in provision and outcome of emergency appendicectomy. Br J Surg. 2013;100(9):1240–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Collaborators DT, West Midlands Research C. Dexamethasone versus standard treatment for postoperative nausea and vomiting in gastrointestinal surgery: randomised controlled trial (DREAMS Trial). Br Med J. 2017;357:j1455.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Reinforcement of Closure of Stoma Site C, the West Midlands Research C. Randomized controlled trial of standard closure of a stoma site vs biological mesh reinforcement: study protocol of the ROCSS trial. Color Dis. 2018;20(2):O46–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Chari A, Jamjoom AA, Edlmann E, Ahmed AI, Coulter IC, Ma R, et al. The British Neurosurgical Trainee Research Collaborative: five years on. Acta Neurochir. 2018;160(1):23–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Brennan PM, Kolias AG, Joannides AJ, Shapey J, Marcus HJ, Gregson BA, et al. The management and outcome for patients with chronic subdural hematoma: a prospective, multicenter, observational cohort study in the United Kingdom. J Neurosurg. 2017;127(4):732–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Collaborative ST. Impact of postoperative non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on adverse events after gastrointestinal surgery. Br J Surg. 2014;101(11):1413–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Collaborative ST. Multicentre prospective cohort study of body mass index and postoperative complications following gastrointestinal surgery. Br J Surg. 2016;103(9):1157–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Collaborative ST. Outcomes after kidney injury in surgery (OAKS): protocol for a multicentre, observational cohort study of acute kidney injury following major gastrointestinal and liver surgery. BMJ Open. 2016;6(1):e009812.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Collaborative ST. Association between peri-operative angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin-2 receptor blockers and acute kidney injury in major elective non-cardiac surgery: a multicentre, prospective cohort study. Anaesthesia. 2018;73(10):1214–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Chapman SJ, EuroSurg C. Ileus Management International (IMAGINE): protocol for a multicentre, observational study of ileus after colorectal surgery. Color Dis. 2018;20(1):O17–25.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. EuroSurg Collaborative. Safety and efficacy of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to reduce ileus after colorectal surgery. Br J Surg. 2019; https://doi.org/10.1002/bjs.11326.

  24. Mendelow AD, Gregson BA, Fernandes HM, Murray GD, Teasdale GM, Hope DT, et al. Early surgery versus initial conservative treatment in patients with spontaneous supratentorial intracerebral haematomas in the International Surgical Trial in Intracerebral Haemorrhage (STICH): a randomised trial. Lancet. 2005;365(9457):387–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Nepogodiev D, Martin J, Biccard B, Makupe A, Bhangu A, National Institute for Health Research Global Health Research Unit on Global S. Global burden of postoperative death. Lancet. 2019;393(10170):401.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Haynes AB, Weiser TG, Berry WR, Lipsitz SR, Breizat AH, Dellinger EP, et al. A surgical safety checklist to reduce morbidity and mortality in a global population. N Engl J Med. 2009;360(5):491–9.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Collaborators C, Roberts I, Shakur H, Afolabi A, Brohi K, Coats T, et al. The importance of early treatment with tranexamic acid in bleeding trauma patients: an exploratory analysis of the CRASH-2 randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2011;377(9771):1096–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Collaborators C, Shakur H, Roberts I, Bautista R, Caballero J, Coats T, et al. Effects of tranexamic acid on death, vascular occlusive events, and blood transfusion in trauma patients with significant haemorrhage (CRASH-2): a randomised, placebo-controlled trial. Lancet. 2010;376(9734):23–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Weiser TG, Makary MA, Haynes AB, Dziekan G, Berry WR, Gawande AA, et al. Standardised metrics for global surgical surveillance. Lancet. 2009;374(9695):1113–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. GlobalSurg C. Mortality of emergency abdominal surgery in high-, middle- and low-income countries. Br J Surg. 2016;103(8):971–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. GlobalSurg C. Surgical site infection after gastrointestinal surgery in high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries: a prospective, international, multicentre cohort study. Lancet Infect Dis. 2018;18(5):516–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Dowswell G, Bartlett DC, Futaba K, Whisker L, Pinkney TD, West Midlands Research Collaborative BUK. How to set up and manage a trainee-led research collaborative. BMC Med Educ. 2014;14:94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Aiken AM, Haddow JB, Symons NR, Kaptanis S, Katz-Summercorn AC, Debnath D, et al. Use of antibiotic prophylaxis in elective inguinal hernia repair in adults in London and south-east England: a cross-sectional survey. Hernia. 2013;17(5):657–64.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Collaborative UKNSR. Multicentre observational study of adherence to Sepsis Six guidelines in emergency general surgery. Br J Surg. 2017;104(2):e165–e71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. CholeS Study Group WMRC. Population-based cohort study of outcomes following cholecystectomy for benign gallbladder diseases. Br J Surg. 2016;103(12):1704–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Pearce L, Newton K, Smith SR, Barrow P, Smith J, Hancock L, et al. Multicentre observational study of outcomes after drainage of acute perianal abscess. Br J Surg. 2016;103(8):1063–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marc A. Gladman .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Gladman, M.A. (2020). International Trials: Surgical Research Networks. In: Pawlik, T., Sosa, J. (eds) Clinical Trials. Success in Academic Surgery. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35488-6_18

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35488-6_18

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-35487-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-35488-6

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics