Venous thromboembolic events after bariatric surgery: Protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION: Considerably large numbers of bariatric surgery (BS) procedures are undertaken globally, and are projected to increase with the obesity epidemic. Venous thromboembolic events (VTE) comprise an important cause of postoperative morbidity and mortality after BS and an important issue with wide clinical and financial repercussions. Yet, a precise extent of the prevalence of VTE after BS for obesity and its mortality remains uncertain. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: In order to respond to this knowledge gap, we will conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of the prevalence of and mortality associated with VTE after BS. This protocol outlines the methodology that will be used and the search strategies and eligibility criteria that will be utilized to identify and select studies, as well as the method by which data from the selected studies will be extracted for analysis. PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, Scopus, clinicaltrials.gov and Google scholar will be searched from 01 January 1990 through 10th April 2020, for original studies written in English that provided prevalence estimates of VTE after BS. Articles will also be searched for mortality estimates of VTE after BS. STROCSS (Strengthening the Reporting of Cohort Studies in Surgery) criteria will evaluate the methodological quality of the selected studies. The use of fixed effect or random effects model will be subject to the findings of the statistical tests for heterogeneity. Publication bias will be visually estimated by inspecting the funnel plots. Pooled estimates will be computed. Th current protocol conforms to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines and has been submitted to the PROSPERO International Prospective Register of systematic reviews. No ethical clearance is required for this study. This systematic review and meta-analysis will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and presented at national and international conferences.