Research & Reports
A full record of all clinical trials, cohort studies, sub-studies, and community initiatives led or participated in by the GSU India Hub — from Ludhiana to Kolkata, Vellore and beyond.
All Work
The first randomised controlled trial in which India recruited 800 patients across 9 hospitals, including remote rural sites — a landmark for international surgical research in LMICs.
Focus: Wound closure techniques and surgical site infection (SSI) prevention following abdominal surgery.
India involvement: 9 hospitals participated, 800 patients recruited including from remote rural hospitals.
Significance: First RCT conducted in India under the GSU network, setting a template for future multi-site trials.
View full project →An international cluster RCT evaluating the use of separate sterile gloves and instruments for wound closure to reduce SSI rates. India closed with 21 hospitals and 4,000 patients recruited.
Focus: Reducing surgical site infections through sterile closure technique — the second global GSU surgical trial after FALCON.
India involvement: 21 hospitals participated, 4,000 patients recruited. One of the largest India contributors in the network.
Significance: SSI is the most common healthcare-associated infection in LMICs and linked to one-third of post-operative deaths.
View full project →A perioperative randomised controlled trial — a unique collaboration of anaesthetists and surgeons across 18 hospitals in India aimed at reducing post-operative pneumonia and SSI.
Focus: Reduction of post-operative pneumonia and surgical site infections through perioperative interventions.
India involvement: 18 participating hospitals across the country. This trial has opened up perioperative research at the India Hub.
Significance: Bridges anaesthesia and surgery disciplines in a collaborative, multi-site trial framework.
View full project →A quality improvement intervention to reduce anastomotic leak following right colectomy and ileocecal resection. India has the largest number of participants outside of Europe.
Focus: Reducing anastomotic leaks in right-sided bowel surgery through an online training and audit programme.
India involvement: Largest non-European contributor. EAGLE 2 builds on the finding that training reduced leak rates by almost 50%.
Significance: A key finding from EAGLE was that centres with trained surgeons saw anastomotic leak rates fall by ~50%.
View full project →A global prospective cohort study on inguinal hernia repairs recruiting 18,000+ patients across 640 hospitals in 83 countries. Findings published in The Lancet Global Health, May 2024.
Focus: Evaluating elective surgical care using inguinal hernia repair as a tracer condition across LMICs.
India involvement: India Hub participated as part of the 640-hospital global network.
Significance: Results published in The Lancet Global Health; produced a 2-page practice brief for clinicians worldwide.
View full project →A randomised controlled trial contributing to the GSU's portfolio of major global surgical trials, with India participating as part of the multi-country collaborative network.
Focus: One of the four major GSU randomised controlled trials highlighted at the Unit's annual meeting in Lagos, 2023.
India involvement: India Hub participated as part of the global trial network.
Significance: Highlighted alongside FALCON, CHEETAH and PENGUIN as a flagship GSU clinical trial achievement.
View full project →A pump-priming study in collaboration with the Philippines team examining levels of stoma care and its perceptions among patients, caregivers and doctors across India.
Focus: Understanding stoma care access, perception and quality across the patient journey in LMICs.
India involvement: Led by the Ludhiana Hub in collaboration with the GlobalSurg team in the Philippines.
Significance: Pump-priming study designed to generate data for future, larger stoma care research programmes.
View full project →A prospective cohort study and audit examining wound closure and SSI prevention following abdominal surgery. India Hub represented by Dr Parvez David Haque at the launch webinar.
Focus: Wound closure techniques and SSI prevention following abdominal surgery across global hospital networks.
India involvement: India Hub is a participating centre; Dr Parvez David Haque is a named panellist at the study launch.
Significance: Over 160 centres globally have registered. Contact: wolverine@contacts.bham.ac.uk
View full project →A clinical trial examining pre-operative chemotherapy for older or frail patients with colon cancer due for surgery, being conducted across 12 hospitals within the India Hub network.
Focus: Use of short-course neoadjuvant chemotherapy to reduce cancer recurrence in elderly patients undergoing colon surgery.
India involvement: 12 hospitals across the GSU India network. Led by Prof Dhruva Ghosh (India Hub Director).
Significance: International collaboration with the University of Leeds; aims to significantly decrease likelihood of cancer returning post-surgery.
View full project →An India-specific study capturing catastrophic expenditure and barriers to referral pathways in patients with colon cancers — now a template for further studies across other cancer types.
Focus: Measuring the financial catastrophe faced by colon cancer patients and identifying barriers to timely surgical referral in India.
India involvement: India-originated study developed at the GlobalSurg India Data Centre, Ludhiana. Now completed.
Significance: May serve as a template for health economics studies across other cancer types in LMICs.
View full project →A health economics sub-study within FALCON and CHEETAH examining the health resource costs of wound management. 322 patient records captured across India.
Focus: Calculating the real health system costs of post-surgical wound management in LMIC settings.
India involvement: 322 patient records captured, making India a significant contributor to this economic analysis.
Significance: Provides critical health economics data to support cost-effectiveness arguments for SSI prevention interventions.
View full project →A sub-study within FALCON and CHEETAH validating video follow-up consultations for post-surgical patients. 556 patients recruited across India.
Focus: Validating remote video-based follow-up as an alternative to in-person post-operative consultations for wound assessment.
India involvement: 556 patients recruited across Indian hospitals in the FALCON and CHEETAH network.
Significance: Key for improving access to post-operative care in rural and remote areas where travel is a barrier.
View full project →A qualitative research sub-study exploring the barriers patients face in following up post-surgical care — capturing patient experiences across Indian hospital networks.
Focus: Qualitative analysis of patient-reported barriers to surgical follow-up attendance in LMIC settings.
India involvement: Conducted across India Hub hospitals; patient narratives gathered to inform future trial design.
Significance: Qualitative data underpins the design of patient-centred follow-up protocols across the GSU network.
View full project →A study of clinical patterns and treatment outcomes in children with abdominal TB — three papers prepared covering clinical aspects, community engagement and health economics.
Focus: Understanding clinical presentation, treatment outcomes, and the community and economic dimensions of abdominal TB in children.
India involvement: Led by the India Hub; papers presented at the British Association of Paediatric Surgeons (BAPS) and World Congress of Paediatric Surgery.
Significance: One of the few India-centric paediatric surgical research projects developed from within the GSU India Data Centre.
View full project →Multi-arm cohort studies determining optimal surgery timing after SARS-CoV-2 infection, and outcomes of elective cancer surgery during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Focus: Three arms — CovidSurg Week (surgery timing), CovidSurg Cancer (elective cancer surgery), CovidSurg 3 (surgery outcomes in Covid-19 infection).
India involvement: India Hub participated across the cohort network, contributing patient data during the pandemic period.
Significance: Evidence generated has influenced government policies across the Global South regarding surgical care during infectious disease outbreaks.
View full project →A rural community outreach programme training 500+ ASHA workers and community health workers across Punjab, Kolkata and Vellore in wound management, cancer detection and stoma care.
Focus: Training frontline community health workers on surgical site infections, early cancer detection and stoma care awareness in rural and peri-urban settings.
India involvement: India Hub leads the CEI programme. The district authority of Punjab has collaborated to train 2,000 accredited ASHAs across 16 districts under the National Health Mission.
Significance: 500+ practitioners trained, 1,000+ km travelled by road. Referred to internationally as a model for Mexico and other hub countries.
View full project →A dedicated rural surgery research hub being established at a remote Indian hospital to study surgical access, outcomes and health economics in underserved communities.
Focus: Building a research infrastructure in a remote hospital to conduct surgical research specific to rural Indian populations.
India involvement: Fully India-originated initiative developed by the GSU India Hub in Ludhiana.
Significance: Addresses a major research gap — the experience of rural surgical patients is severely underrepresented in global surgical literature.
View full project →A health economics analysis study contributing to the GSU portfolio. Results published in the World Journal of Surgery, led by the NIHR Hub network with India participation.
Focus: Health economics modelling and analysis across the GSU network to understand cost implications of surgical interventions in LMICs.
India involvement: India Hub contributed data as part of the wider GSU economics programme.
Significance: Published in the World Journal of Surgery — one of the GSU's highlighted outputs at its 2023 annual symposium.
View full project →We collaborate with hospitals, institutions and NGOs across India and internationally.
Reach out to our team to discuss research collaboration, hospital partnerships, or to learn more about any of our projects.
Main HubChristian Medical College & Hospital, Ludhiana, Punjab, India
South India Sub-HubChristian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu
East India Sub-HubTata Medical Centre, Kolkata, West Bengal
Email Usglobalsurgindia@cmcludhiana.in
Global Surgery Unit Websiteglobalsurgeryunit.org/contact-us