TY - JOUR
T1 - Burden of surgical disease
T2 - Does the literature reflect the scope of the international crisis?
AU - Taira, Breena R.
AU - Kelly McQueen, K. A.
AU - Burkle, Frederick M.
N1 - Funding Information:
Despite the lack of information, surgical interventions are provided worldwide by many governmental and non-governmental organizations, hospitals, private volunteer organizations, and individual surgical teams every day in the developing world. Knowing the prevalence and the scope of surgical disease is critical to infrastructure planning, education, training, and funding from international donors []. Estimating the impact of untreated surgical disease on disability and premature morbidity and mortality presents a greater challenge. This untreated fraction of the burden of surgical disease primarily represents failures in access and availability of resources. Overall, the lack of knowledge and epidemiological studies of the scope of the problems limits the ability of institutions to advocate for surgical services and improved infrastructure. This literature review summarizes key aspects of the current global surgical burden in developing countries.
PY - 2009/5
Y1 - 2009/5
N2 - Background: Little is factually known about the burden of surgical disease and less is known about global surgical provision of care for diseases that may be treated, cured, or palliated by a surgical intervention. Despite the lack of information, surgical interventions are provided by a variety of agencies every day in the developing world. This literature review represents the first published comprehensive review of the global surgical literature. The primary goal was to collect and summarize what has been published on the current global burden of surgical disease and thereby encourage and promote the allocation of further research and resources. Methods: A systematic review of English language publications on Pubmed or Medline was performed. Results and conclusions: This report summarizes what little is known in terms of numeric estimates for the global burden of surgical disease. Globally, access and availability of surgical care in developing countries remains scarce, but the problem is receiving more attention for the first time in surgical circles. Much work remains in the effort to obtain reliable estimates of the global burden of surgical disease.
AB - Background: Little is factually known about the burden of surgical disease and less is known about global surgical provision of care for diseases that may be treated, cured, or palliated by a surgical intervention. Despite the lack of information, surgical interventions are provided by a variety of agencies every day in the developing world. This literature review represents the first published comprehensive review of the global surgical literature. The primary goal was to collect and summarize what has been published on the current global burden of surgical disease and thereby encourage and promote the allocation of further research and resources. Methods: A systematic review of English language publications on Pubmed or Medline was performed. Results and conclusions: This report summarizes what little is known in terms of numeric estimates for the global burden of surgical disease. Globally, access and availability of surgical care in developing countries remains scarce, but the problem is receiving more attention for the first time in surgical circles. Much work remains in the effort to obtain reliable estimates of the global burden of surgical disease.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=67349281947&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=67349281947&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00268-009-9981-x
DO - 10.1007/s00268-009-9981-x
M3 - Article
C2 - 19290571
AN - SCOPUS:67349281947
SN - 0364-2313
VL - 33
SP - 893
EP - 898
JO - World journal of surgery
JF - World journal of surgery
IS - 5
ER -