Background 11% of the global burden of disease requires surgical care or anaesthesia management or both. Some studies have estimated this burden to be as high as 30%. The Lancet Commission for Global Surgery (LCoGS) estimated that 5000 surgeries are required to meet the surgical burden of disease for 100,000 people in LMICs. Studies from LMICs, estimating surgical burden based on enumeration of surgeries, are sparse. Method We performed this study in an urban population availing employees’ heath scheme in Mumbai, India. Surgical procedures performed in 2017 and 2018, under this free and equitable health scheme, were enumerated. We estimated the surgical needs for national population, based on age and sex distribution of surgeries and age standardization from our cohort. Result A total of 4642 surgeries were performed per year for a population of 88,273. Cataract (22.8%), Caesareans (3.8%), surgeries for fractures (3.27%) and hernia (2.86%) were the commonest surgeries. 44.2% of surgeries belonged to the essential surgeries. We estimated 3646 surgeries would be required per 100,000 Indian population per year. One-third of these surgeries would be needed for the age group 30–49 years, in the Indian population. Conclusion A total of 3646 surgeries were estimated annually to meet the surgical needs of Indian population as compared to the global estimate of 5000 surgeries per 100,000 people. Caesarean section, cataract, surgeries for fractures and hernia are the major contributors to the surgical needs. More enumeration-based studies are needed for better estimates from rural as well as other urban areas.

Background Cancellations of elective surgeries on the day of surgery (DOS) can lead to added financial burden and wastage of resources for healthcare facilities; as well as social and emotional problems to patients. These cancellations act as barriers to delivering efficient surgical services. Optimal utilisation of the available resources is necessary for resource-constrained low-and-middle-income countries (LMIC). This study investigates the rate and causes of cancellations of elective surgeries on the DOS in various surgical departments across ten hospitals in India. Methods A research consortium ‘IndSurg’ led by World Health Organisation Collaboration Centre (WHOCC) for Research in Surgical Care Delivery in LMICs, India conducted this multicentre retrospective cross-sectional study to analyse the cancellations of elective/planned surgical operations on DOS across urban secondary and tertiary level hospitals. We audited surgical records of a pre-decided period of six weeks for cancellations, documented relevant demographic information and reasons for cancellations. Results We analysed records from the participating hospitals, with an overall cancellation rate of 9.7% (508/5231) on the DOS for elective surgical operations. Of these, 74% were avoidable cancellations. A majority (30%) of these 508 cancellations were attributed to insufficient resources, 28% due to patient's refusal or failure to show-up, and 22% due to change in patient's medical status. Conclusion We saw a preponderance of avoidable reasons for elective surgery cancellations. A multidisciplinary approach with adequate preoperative patient counselling, timely communication between the patients and caregivers, adequate preoperative anaesthetic assessment, and planning by the surgical team may help reduce the cancellation rate.

IntroductionTrauma accounts for nearly 10% of the global burden of disease. Several trauma life support programmes aim to improve trauma outcomes. There is no evidence from controlled trials to show the effect of these programmes on patient outcomes. We describe the protocol of a pilot study that aims to assess the feasibility of conducting a cluster randomised controlled trial comparing advanced trauma life support (ATLS) and primary trauma care (PTC) with standard care.Methods and analysisWe will pilot a pragmatic three-armed parallel, cluster randomised controlled trial in India, where neither of these programmes are routinely taught. We will recruit tertiary hospitals and include trauma patients and residents managing these patients. Two hospitals will be randomised to ATLS, two to PTC and two to standard care. The primary outcome will be all-cause mortality at 30 days from the time of arrival to the emergency department. Our secondary outcomes will include patient, provider and process measures. All outcomes except time-to-event outcomes will be measured both as final values as well as change from baseline. We will compare outcomes in three combinations of trial arms: ATLS versus PTC, ATLS versus standard care and PTC versus standard care using absolute and relative differences along with associated CIs. We will conduct subgroup analyses across the clinical subgroups men, women, blunt multisystem trauma, penetrating trauma, shock, severe traumatic brain injury and elderly. In parallel to the pilot study, we will conduct community consultations to inform the planning of the full-scale trial.Ethics and disseminationWe will apply for ethics approvals to the local institutional review board in each hospital. The protocol will be published to Clinical Trials Registry—India and ClinicalTrials.gov. The results will be published and the anonymised data and code for analysis will be released publicly.