The Implementation of a Perioperative Registry in a Resource-Limited Setting: A Feasibility, Fidelity, and Acceptance...

In low and middle-income countries, nine out of every ten persons is unable to access safe and timely surgery. The limited perioperative data in resource-limited settings compromises surgical and research capacity growth. By increasing data availability, surgical disparities may be addressed through research efforts and quality initiatives. This project aimed to implement and evaluate a perioperative registry in a tertiary care hospital in a low-income country.

A prospective emergency laparotomy perioperative registry was implemented in Zambia's largest teaching and referral hospital. Over the first 6-months of implementation, 162 patients were included. Data was collected postoperatively, before discharge, and at 30 days. The registries feasibility was assessed by evaluating patient accrual, retention, and 30-day completion rates. The registries fidelity was measured by evaluating data missingness. A participant acceptance survey was retrospectively collected and analyzed for the first 25 consecutively enrolled patients.

The capture rate of the registry could not be calculated due to a destroyed theatre logbook. The participant accrual and retention rates were 99.4% and 95.1%, respectively. The participant completion rate at 30-days was 75.6%. The overall incidence of missing information in the registry was 3.5%. More than 75% of participant responses to the acceptance survey were positive in each category regarding the ethical conduct of research and the storing of personal data.

The value of this study is the reporting and evaluation of a successful perioperative registry implementation with minimal external funding. This framework is being used to develop new data registries and may provide a roadmap for other hospitals with resource constraints.