O2 Facilitating engagement in surgical research through a virtual systematic review network: The RoboSurg Collaborative

INTRODUCTION: For students and trainees, COVID-19 has restricted opportunities for training and development. We sought to develop a virtual network to facilitate remote engagement and training in surgical research during COVID-19. RoboSurg aims to conduct a series of systematic reviews, to summarise and critique the reporting of studies of robot-assisted surgery across seven upper gastrointestinal procedures. METHODS: A protocol was developed based on previously published work. Searches were undertaken to identify studies evaluating robotic pancreas, liver, oesophagus, stomach, gallbladder, bariatric and anti-reflux surgery. Participants were identified through social media and collaborative research networks. Abstracts were screened for inclusion by two participants. Data extraction is completed by teams of collaborators, entered into a bespoke REDCap database and verified by senior team member. Changes are logged, with rationale and feedback provided to collaborators and reviewed by a third reviewer to assess consistency. Results of each review will be summarised in narrative syntheses. RESULTS: A total of 134 collaborators have registered, with 73 active participants. Collaborators range from second year medical students to surgical registrars across the UK. To date, 9444 abstracts and 1653 full texts have been screened with 422 eligible articles identified. Data extraction for two systematic reviews, including 193 articles, has been completed using this approach. CONCLUSION: RoboSurg has developed a network and methodological framework for the remote conduction of complex systematic reviews, which can be utilised to engage and train students and trainees in surgical research.