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Introduction Cholecystectomy is one of the most common operations performed worldwide. Although laparoscopic surgery has been the ‘gold-standard’ approach for this operation, there is a paucity of global evidence around the variations of safe provision of cholecystectomy, including low-income and middle-income countries. This international collaborative study will allow contemporaneous data collection on the quality of cholecystectomies using measures covering infrastructure, care processes and outcomes, with the primary aim define the global variation in compliance with preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative audit standards.Methods and analysis Global Evaluation of Cholecystectomy Knowledge and Outcomes is a prospective, international, multicentre, observational cohort study delivered by the GlobalSurg Collaborative. Consecutive patients undergoing cholecystectomy between 31 July 2023 and 19 November 2023 will be recruited, with follow-up at 30 days and 1-year postoperatively. The study will be undertaken at any hospital providing emergency or elective surgical services for biliary disease. The primary endpoint of this study is compliance with preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative audit standards. Secondary outcomes include rates of 30-day complications, achievement of critical view of safety and rates of gallbladder cancer.Ethics and dissemination This project will not affect clinical practice and has been classified as clinical audit following research ethics review at University Hospital Birmingham NHS Trust. The protocol will be disseminated through the international GlobalSurg and CovidSurg network.Trial registration number NCT06223061.

Most recent studies on the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic and cutaneous melanoma (CM) focused more on delayed diagnosis or advanced presentation. We aimed to ascertain mortality trends of CM between 2012 and 2022, focusing on the effects of the COVID‐19 pandemic. In this serial population‐based study, the National Vital Statistics System dataset was queried for mortality data. Excess CM‐related mortality rates were estimated by calculating the difference between observed and projected mortality rates during the pandemic. Totally there were 108,853 CM‐associated deaths in 2012–2022. CM‐associated mortality saw a declining trend from 2012 to 2019 overall. However, it increased sharply in 2020 (ASMR 3.73 per 100,000 persons, 5.95% excess mortality), and remained high in 2021 and 2022, with the ASMRs of 3.82 and 3.81, corresponding to 11.17% and 13.20% excess mortality, respectively. The nonmetro areas had the most pronounced rise in mortality with 12.20% excess death in 2020, 15.33% in 2021 and 20.52% in 2022, corresponding to a 4–6 times excess mortality risk compared to large metro areas during the pandemic. The elderly had the most pronounced rise in mortality, but the mortality in the younger population was reduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To develop a novel endoscopic system that reduces trauma to the patient and declutters the surgical field for the surgeon in minimally invasive heart valve surgery., Methods: We designed and developed a retractor-camera combination for minimally invasive heart surgery; the cable and camera were connected to the underbelly of the left atrial retractor blade to provide an illuminated, wide-angle view of the mitral valve. We conducted ex vivo, in vivo, and, ultimately, a first-in-man randomized, nonanonymized clinical trial on 20 patients who required minimally invasive mitral valve surgery. Data from the preoperative period and the immediate postoperative period were gathered, and patients were followed for 3 months., Results: Our camera-retractor combo demonstrated safe and efficient exposure and vision in all detailed studies. The total operation time for the intervention group (316.5 ± 65.1 min) was slightly shorter than for the control group (317.5 ± 50.8 min). There was no significant difference in the ability to provide exposure of the mitral valve and surrounding left atrial tissue for both control and test articles. The novel camera-retractor reduced clutter in the operation field substantially and eliminated chest penetration for the camera. We also observed that the camera did not fog, did not stain with blood, and did not require frequent corrections to its position., Conclusions: We launch a novel atrial retraction-imaging platform that is less invasive for the patient and eliminates clutter and redundant movements for the surgeon., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe authors declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The Endopsis technology has undergone a thorough review, including an extensive prior art search, prior to the final submission of its PCT application and subsequent National Phase entries. It has successfully navigated all assessments and does not present any conflicts of interest or infringe upon existing patents in the market.