Welcome to our first GASOC Journal Club on MedAll!

March's journal club is being hosted jointly by Surgery and Anaesthetics. We have two amazing guests Professor Bruce Biccard and Niki Vickery presenting 2 papers centred on the ASOS-2 Trial.

Bruce Biccard is Professor and Second Chair in the Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine at Groote Schuur Hospital and the University of Cape Town, South Africa. His research interests include perioperative medicine, perioperative outcomes and global surgery. He is a proponent of international collaborative research. He collaborates with the African Perioperative Research Group (APORG) network, where he has led the African Surgical Outcomes Study (ASOS), the ASOS-2 Trial, and co-led the African Covid-19 Critical Care Outcomes Study (ACCCOS). He is the co-Lead for the NIHR Global Health Group on Perioperative and Critical Care.

Presenting: Biccard BM, du Toit L, Lesosky M, et al. Enhanced postoperative surveillance versus standard of care to reduce mortality among adult surgical patients in Africa (ASOS-2): a cluster-randomised controlled trial. The Lancet Global Health 2021;9(10):e1391-e401.

Niki Vickery is a South African trained anaesthetist who has been involved in international NGO projects and has worked under Prof Biccard at the University of Cape Town. She joined the Critical Care and Perioperative Medicine Research Group at QMUL in 2020 and splits her time as a consultant in anaesthesia and critical care at Whipps Cross Hospital with ongoing work as a clinical research fellow within the Group. Her interest lies in research to improve perioperative outcomes in Africa.

Presenting: Vickery N, Stephens T, du Toit L, et al. Understanding the performance of a pan-African intervention to reduce postoperative mortality: a mixed-methods process evaluation of the ASOS-2 trial. Br J Anaesth 2021;127(5):778-88.