Measurements of Surgical Volume in Low- and Middle-Income Countries, a Systematic Review

Our findings support the LCoGS assessment of the gap in surgical care. The target for SV is 5000 per 100,000 population, compared to the average of 765 per 100,000 population as found in this review. The challenges for assessing surgical volume gaps are vast, including the nature of written records, which limits SV reports to an absolute number of procedures per year without a reference to the catchment population. For the purpose of tracking SV, we recommend using proxies that account for the capacity of facilities to deliver care regardless of the catchment population.