Global incidence and case fatality rate of pulmonary embolism following major surgery: a protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies

Background Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a life-threatening condition common after major surgery. Although the high incidence (0.3–30%) and mortality rate (16.9–31%) of PE in patients undergoing major surgical procedures is apparent from findings of contemporary observational studies, there is a lack of a summary and meta-analysis data on the epidemiology of postoperative PE in this same regard. Hence, we propose to conduct the first systematic review to summarise existing data on the global incidence, determinants and case fatality rate of PE following major surgery. Methods Electronic databases including MEDLINE, EMBASE, SCOPUS, WHO global health library (including LILACS), Web of Science and Google scholar from inception to April 30, 2017, will be searched for cohort studies reporting on the incidence, determinants and case fatality rate of PE occurring after major surgery. Data from grey literature will also be assessed. Two investigators will independently perform study selection and data extraction. Included studies will be evaluated for risk of bias. Appropriate meta-analytic methods will be used to pool incidence and case fatality rate estimates from studies with identical features, globally and by subgroups of major surgical procedures. Random-effects and risk ratio with 95% confidence interval will be used to summarise determinants and predictors of mortality of PE in patients undergoing major surgery. Discussion This systematic review and meta-analysis will provide the most up-to-date epidemiology of PE in patients undergoing major surgery to inform health authorities and identify further research topics based on the remaining knowledge gaps. Systematic review registration PROSPERO CRD42017065126 Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13643-017-0647-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.