Discontinuation and non-publication of surgical randomised controlled trials: observational study

摘要

STUDY QUESTION What are the rates of early discontinuation and non-publication of surgical randomised controlled trials? SUMMARYANSWER One in five surgical randomised controlled trials is discontinued early, and one in three completed trials remains unpublished at a median time of 4.9 years from study completion to publication search. WHAT IS KNOWN AND WHATTHiS PAPER ADDS Non-publication of randomised controlled trials is common and raises ethical concerns fortrial participants, while providing no benefit for the wider community. Considerable resource wastage exists in the conduct of modern surgical trials, through early termination due to insufficient recruitment and non-publication after completion, and investigators are frequently not contactable for additional information.