STARSurg Summary

STARSurg

Student Audit & Research in Surgery

Ryan Preece

Cardiff University Local Lead

Research Collaboratives

• Large number of patients studied in a short time

• It prevents repetition and poor utilisation of finite research resources

• Greater generalisability across a multi-centre setting

“the working together of multi-centred researchers to achieve the common goal of producing new

scientific/clinical knowledge” (Katz 1997)

Medical Student Discoveries

Frequently cited obstacles to student research involvement were time constraints(74%) and a perceived lack of interest from potential supervisors (63%)

Ali Nikkar-Esfahani et al Extracurricular participation in research and audit by medical students: Opportunities, obstacles, motivation and outcomes. Medical Teacher 2012 34(5): e317-e324

What is STARSurg?• Student Audit and Research in Surgery

• Novel student-led surgical collaborative across the UK facilitating multi-centre research projects

• Aims:

1. Enthuse medical students to become involved in high quality audit and research.

2. Instil a culture of evidence-based practice and build a future generation of research-active surgeons.

3. Deliver an annual, student-led, national project capable of challenging current clinical practice.

Surgical trainee &

consultant support

STARSurgStructure

Medical Student Mini-Team (2-3)

National Steering Committee

Medical Students & Surgical Trainees

Medical School Local Leads

Medical Student Mini-Team (2-3)

Medical Student Mini-Team (2-3)

Medical Student Mini-Team (2-3)

Medical Student Mini-Team (2-3)

STARSurg I (2013)

• 258 student collaborators from 31 medical schools

• Data collected over a two-week period on a prospective cohort of 1500 patients across 109 UK hospitals

Introduction/Aims

• NSAIDs common post-op analgesic recommended by ERAS – opiate sparing role

• Recent studies suggest NSAIDS increase risk of anastomotic leak1

• This study aimed to determine the safety profile of postoperative NSAIDs after major gastrointestinal resection in current UK practice

1) Bhangu A, Singh P, Fitzgerald JE, Slesser A, Tekkis P. Postoperative non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and risk of anastomotic leak: meta-analysis of clinical and experimental studies. World J Surg 2014; [Epub ahead of print]

Early post-op treatment with NSAIDs was associated with:

• ↓overall complications

• Predominately, a reduction in minor complications with high-dose NSAIDs

Pubmed Citeable Authorship

• Aims

(i) To establish compliance with NICE guidelines requiring early identification of obese patients

(ii) To determine the role of obesity as a risk factor for major postoperative complications

Over 9000 patients enrolled!

Get Involved!

Thank-you

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @STARSurgUK

www.starsurg.org