Systematic review and meta-analysis of the effect of the World Health Organization surgical safety checklist on postoperative complications

Background The World Health Organization (WHO) surgical safety checklist (SSC) was introduced to improve the safety of surgical procedures. This systematic review evaluated current evidence regarding the effectiveness of this checklist in reducing postoperative complications. Methods The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, Embase and CINAHL were searched using predefined inclusion criteria. The systematic review included all original articles reporting a...