Causes and Outcomes of Intensive Care Admission Refusals: A Retrospective Audit from a Rural Teaching Hospital in Eastern Cape, South Africa.

(1) Background: Patients who deserve intensive care unit (ICU) admission may be denied due to a lack of resources, complicating ICU triage decisions for intensive care unit (ICU) clinicians. Among the resources that may be unavailable are trained personnel and monitored beds. In South Africa, the distribution of healthcare resources is reflected in the availability of ICU beds, with more ICU beds available in more affluent areas.

A meta-analysis of the efficacy of preoperative surgical safety checklists to improve perioperative outcomes.

Background: Meta-analyses of the implementation of a surgical safety checklist (SSC) in observational studies have shown a significant decrease in mortality and surgical complications.

Objective: To determine the efficacy of the SSC using data from randomised controlled trials (RCTs).

Methods: This meta-analysis followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines and was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42015017546).