O3236: Global Consensus Statements and Efforts – Quantifying their Impact on Academic Efforts in Global Pediatric Surgery

Background: Often referred to as the golden year of global surgery, 2015 marked a pivotal moment in the global advocacy for equitable access to essential surgical care. Key global consensus statements were released with the aim of achieving universal health coverage through improved access to surgical care which in turn led to numerous regional and international initiatives to pursue this aim. However, the extent to which these efforts have translated into tangible academic output, and how the current academic landscape compares with the pre-2015 era is unclear. This study aimed to quantify and assess shifts in academic efforts in global pediatric surgery following the 2015 consensus statements.

Methods: Using Scopus as the database of choice and through an appropriate combination of Boolean search terms, we identified all articles on pediatric surgery in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) from 1987–2024. Articles were manually screened for relevance. Data was collected for included articles on authorship network (single country, bi-national, multi-national, international collaborative, visiting surgeons), country income level of first and last author (classified by the World Bank as LMIC or HIC), surgical subspecialty (general and thoracic surgery, anesthesia, cardiac, neurosurgery, ophthalmology, orthopedics, plastic surgery), funding status, and open access availability. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise the findings and assess trends.

Results: A total of 2,173 articles were identified, of which 1,986 articles from 2007–2024 were included in the analysis to facilitate comparison between two 9-year periods – pre-2015 (2007–2015) and post-2015 (2016–2024) – using 2015 as the landmark year. Overall publication volume increased fivefold in the post-2015 period (Figure 1). Publications in each surgical subspecialty increased substantially (Table 1), particularly in pediatric anesthesia – which increased by nearly four times – emphasizing the growing recognition of anesthesia as an essential pillar of surgical care.
There was also a marked rise in LMIC author representation, indicating increasing regional contributions rather than sole reliance on external support. While single-country studies increased, collaborative efforts (both binational and multinational) also saw growth, reflecting a global shift toward shared responsibility and capacity-building in pediatric surgical care. Funded studies rose by 6 times (50 to 310), yet 78% of articles in 2016–2024 reported no funding, highlighting persistent scarcity of finances.

Conclusion: The study reveals the following key shifts in pediatric surgery research:
(1) Expansion of research post-2015 seen in the increasing trend of publication count,
(2) Globalization of research evident through the increased number of international collaborations, and
(3) Perioperative care prioritization, demonstrated by the increase in the number of anesthesia-related publications.

Despite all this progress, limited funding remains a significant barrier and warrants strategic investment to sustain this academic momentum in order to progress towards equitable pediatric surgical care across the globe.