Surgery Information Resources: Search Strategies for PubMed
Created by Health Science Librarians
Suggestions & Feedback
Help improve this page by sharing your suggestions and feedback via email on topics including but not limited to:
- adding a resource to this page;
- fixing a broken link;
- perceptions of this page (usefulness as well as opportunities for improvement);
- and any other thoughts you'd like to share!
Clinical Librarian
Health Sciences Library
335 S. Columbia Street
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7585
(Google Maps for directions)
I have a hybrid work schedule and the days I work on-campus are variable. Please email for my next on-campus availability, or schedule a virtual meeting directly on my calendar any time by clicking the button above.
Search Strategies for Common Literature Search Topics
This page has search strategies created by the surgery librarian for searching PubMed. These strategies can be used alone or combined with other search terms to find relevant literature. However, these strategies have not been formally validated and should not be used for systematic reviews or practice guidelines without first consulting with the librarian.
Surgery Search Terms
PubMed
Focused set of search terms:
("surgery"[Subheading] OR "surgical procedures, operative"[MeSH] OR "Surgeons"[Mesh] OR surgeons[tiab] OR surgeon[tiab] OR surgery[tiab] OR surgical[tiab] OR surgeries[tiab] OR operative[tiab] OR operation[tiab] OR operations[tiab] OR operating[tiab])
For additional articles, use this broader set of search terms instead:
("surgery"[Subheading] OR "surgical procedures, operative"[MeSH] OR "Surgeons"[Mesh] OR surgeons[tiab] OR surgeon[tiab] OR surgery[tiab] OR surgical[tiab] OR surgeries[tiab] OR operative[tiab] OR operation[tiab] OR operations[tiab] OR operating[tiab] OR excision[tw] OR excisions[tw] OR resection[tw] OR resections[tw] OR resect[tw] OR anastomosis[tw] OR transplantation[tw] OR transplantations[tw] OR transplant[tw] OR transplants[tw] OR graft[tw] OR grafts[tw] OR grafting[tw]) OR ("Preoperative Period"[Mesh] OR "Preoperative Care"[Mesh] OR "Perioperative Period"[Mesh] OR "Perioperative Care"[Mesh] OR "Perioperative Medicine"[Mesh] OR "Postoperative Period"[Mesh] OR "Postoperative Care"[Mesh] OR pre-admission[tiab] OR preadmission[tiab] OR pre-procedure[tiab] OR pre-procedural[tiab] OR pre-operative[tiab] OR preoperative[tw] OR peri-operative[tiab] OR perioperative[tw] OR post-operative[tiab] OR postoperative[tw])
COVID Base Search
PubMed
("COVID-19"[Mesh] OR "SARS-CoV-2"[Mesh] OR "COVID-19 Testing"[Mesh] OR 2019-nCoV[All Fields] OR 2019nCoV[All Fields] OR COVID-19[All Fields] OR COVID-2019[All Fields] OR COVID-19s[All Fields] OR COVID[TiAb] OR COVID*[Ti] OR COVID19[All Fields] OR CoV-19[All Fields] OR SARS-CoV-2[All Fields] OR SARS-COV2[All Fields] OR "severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2"[All Fields] OR "COVID-19 Vaccines"[Mesh] OR "Coronavirus Disease 2019"[All Fields] OR (Coronavirus*[All Fields] AND pandemic[All Fields]) OR "COVID-19 Serological Testing"[Mesh] OR "COVID-19 Nucleic Acid Testing"[Mesh] OR "SARS-CoV-2 variants" [Supplementary Concept] OR "spike protein, SARS-CoV-2" [Supplementary Concept] OR "COVID-19 serotherapy" [Supplementary Concept] OR "COVID-19 breakthrough infections" [Supplementary Concept] OR "COVID-19 drug treatment" [Supplementary Concept] OR "SARS-CoV-2 inactivated vaccines" [Supplementary Concept] OR "COVID-19 stress syndrome" [Supplementary Concept] OR "COVID-19 post-intensive care syndrome" [Supplementary Concept] OR "post-acute COVID-19 syndrome" [Supplementary Concept]) AND 2019:3000[pdat] AND English[lang]