Breast Reconstruction Systematic Review Search Strategy

Abstract

To identify studies to include or consider for this [review type] review, the review team worked with a librarian (TN]) to develop detailed search strategies for each database. The PRISMA-S extension was followed for search reporting. The librarian (TN) developed the search for PubMed (NLM) and translated the search for every database searched. The PubMed (NLM) search strategy was reviewed by the research team to check for accuracy and term relevancy. All final searches were peer-reviewed by another librarian following the Peer Review of Electronic Search Strategies (PRESS checklist). The search was limited to English language only. The databases included in this search are PubMed (NLM), Embase (Elsevier), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (Wiley), Web of Science Core Collection (Clarivate Analytics), and HealthSTAR (Ovid) using a combination of keywords and subject headings. A grey literature search included Clinical Trials Registry (https://classic.clinicaltrials.gov/), WHO ICTRP (https://trialsearch.who.int/), TRIP Pro Database (tripdatabase.com), and MedRxiv (https://www.medrxiv.org/). All final searches were performed on April 12, 2024 by the librarian and were fully reported on April 18, 2024. The full search strategies as reported by the librarian are provided in Appendix (___). A summary of the search results:

PubMed (NLM) from 1809 to 4/12/2024 (200 Results)

Embase (Elsevier) from 1974 to 4/12/2024 (458 Results)

Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (Wiley) from inception to 4/12/2024 (26 Results)

Web of Science Core Collection (Clarivate Analytics) from 1900 to 4/12/2024 (177 Results)

HealthSTAR (Ovid) from 1975 to 4/12/2024 (198 results)

Clinical Trials Registry (https://classic.clinicaltrials.gov/) from inception to 4/12/2024 (74 Results)

WHO ICTRP (https://trialsearch.who.int/) 1900 to 4/12/2024 (4 Results)

TRIP Pro Database from 1867 to 4/12/2024 (53 Results)

MedRxiv (https://www.medrxiv.org/) from inception to 4/12/2024 (5 results)

The search resulted in 1,195 studies. 567 duplicate studies were found and omitted by the librarian (TN) using EndNote 20 following the Wichor Bramer duplicate identification strategy. This resulted in 591 records to screen from databases or registers and 58 records to screen from other methods (websites), resulting in a total of 628 records. Studies were screened by title and abstract by two blinded and independent reviewers. If a tiebreaker was needed, a third reviewer was called in. This process was repeated for full text article screening and article selection.