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Examining the surgical backlog due to COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean : insights from a scoping review

Campos, Letícia Nunes ; Bryce-Alberti, Mayte ; Gerk, Ayla ; Hill, Sarah K. ; Calderon, Chrystal ; Zaigham, Mehreen LU orcid ; del Valle, Diana D. ; Mita, Carol ; Juran, Sabrina and Ferreira, Júlia Loyola , et al. (2024) In The Lancet Regional Health - Americas 40.
Abstract

This scoping review assessed the surgical backlog in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) due to COVID-19 and identified mitigation strategies. We searched seven databases for citations from December 2019 to December 2022, focusing on LAC patients with cancelled or postponed procedures. We registered our protocol at Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/x2nd8) and adhered to PRISMA-ScR guidelines. We included 83 citations covering 23 LAC countries and 19 surgical specialities, with Brazil (67%, 56/83) and transplant surgery (24%, 20/83) being the most documented. Surgical backlogs were mainly reported at the hospital (44%, 37/83) and national levels (38%, 32/83). We identified 58 citations that reported a total of 42 strategies to... (More)

This scoping review assessed the surgical backlog in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) due to COVID-19 and identified mitigation strategies. We searched seven databases for citations from December 2019 to December 2022, focusing on LAC patients with cancelled or postponed procedures. We registered our protocol at Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/x2nd8) and adhered to PRISMA-ScR guidelines. We included 83 citations covering 23 LAC countries and 19 surgical specialities, with Brazil (67%, 56/83) and transplant surgery (24%, 20/83) being the most documented. Surgical backlogs were mainly reported at the hospital (44%, 37/83) and national levels (38%, 32/83). We identified 58 citations that reported a total of 42 strategies to mitigate the backlog, the most cited being establishing prioritisation criteria for surgical cases (41%, 24/58). Our findings highlight challenges across differing healthcare systems in LAC, including disparities in data availability, surgical capacity, and resource allocation. For instance, while countries like Brazil had extensive data on national surgical backlogs, others lacked comprehensive national-level data. Our review can help inform policymakers and healthcare stakeholders to implement targeted interventions to prepare LAC-based surgical systems for future health emergencies.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
COVID-19, Global burden of disease, Health equity, Health policy, Operative, Pandemic preparedness, Surgical procedures
in
The Lancet Regional Health - Americas
volume
40
article number
100908
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85206261028
  • pmid:39493415
ISSN
2667-193X
DOI
10.1016/j.lana.2024.100908
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2024
id
92cc4ac9-e650-40ab-9de1-73f23d77607d
date added to LUP
2024-10-22 07:56:05
date last changed
2025-06-04 03:15:12
@article{92cc4ac9-e650-40ab-9de1-73f23d77607d,
  abstract     = {{<p>This scoping review assessed the surgical backlog in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) due to COVID-19 and identified mitigation strategies. We searched seven databases for citations from December 2019 to December 2022, focusing on LAC patients with cancelled or postponed procedures. We registered our protocol at Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/x2nd8) and adhered to PRISMA-ScR guidelines. We included 83 citations covering 23 LAC countries and 19 surgical specialities, with Brazil (67%, 56/83) and transplant surgery (24%, 20/83) being the most documented. Surgical backlogs were mainly reported at the hospital (44%, 37/83) and national levels (38%, 32/83). We identified 58 citations that reported a total of 42 strategies to mitigate the backlog, the most cited being establishing prioritisation criteria for surgical cases (41%, 24/58). Our findings highlight challenges across differing healthcare systems in LAC, including disparities in data availability, surgical capacity, and resource allocation. For instance, while countries like Brazil had extensive data on national surgical backlogs, others lacked comprehensive national-level data. Our review can help inform policymakers and healthcare stakeholders to implement targeted interventions to prepare LAC-based surgical systems for future health emergencies.</p>}},
  author       = {{Campos, Letícia Nunes and Bryce-Alberti, Mayte and Gerk, Ayla and Hill, Sarah K. and Calderon, Chrystal and Zaigham, Mehreen and del Valle, Diana D. and Mita, Carol and Juran, Sabrina and Ferreira, Júlia Loyola and Uribe-Leitz, Tarsicio}},
  issn         = {{2667-193X}},
  keywords     = {{COVID-19; Global burden of disease; Health equity; Health policy; Operative; Pandemic preparedness; Surgical procedures}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{The Lancet Regional Health - Americas}},
  title        = {{Examining the surgical backlog due to COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean : insights from a scoping review}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lana.2024.100908}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.lana.2024.100908}},
  volume       = {{40}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}