Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.
World J Gastrointest Surg. Jun 27, 2026; 18(6): 120266
Published online Jun 27, 2026. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.120266
Published online Jun 27, 2026. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.120266
Standardized handover in gastrointestinal surgery: From checklist adoption to safety culture
Janani Kannan, Department of General Surgery, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117597, Singapore
Vishal G Shelat, Department of General Surgery, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore 308433, Singapore
Author contributions: Shelat VG conceptualized and designed the study, supervised, and made critical revisions; Kannan J and Shelat VG conducted the literature review, consolidated the data, drafted the manuscript, and made critical revisions; and all authors contributed to preparation of the draft and approved the submitted version.
AI contribution statement: ChatGPT (OpenAI) was used as an editorial support tool during preparation of this manuscript, including assistance with wording refinement, language polishing, organization of text, and preparation of the figure concept. Grammarly, DeepL, and other AI-based translation tools were not used. No section of the manuscript was produced entirely by AI. The intellectual content, literature selection, interpretation, conclusions, and final wording were reviewed, verified, revised, and approved by the authors. AI was not used for data analysis, statistical analysis, study design, or interpretation of results. Figure 1 was not prepared with AI-assisted editorial/visual support. The figure does not contain patient images, identifiable patient information, or copyrighted third-party material. The authors accept full responsibility for the accuracy, integrity, and final content of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Corresponding author: Vishal G Shelat, Associate Professor, Consultant, FRCS (Gen Surg), Department of General Surgery, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, 11 Jalan Tan Tock Seng, Singapore 308433, Singapore. vgshelat@rediffmail.com
Received: February 24, 2026
Revised: March 5, 2026
Accepted: April 2, 2026
Published online: June 27, 2026
Processing time: 120 Days and 12.9 Hours
Revised: March 5, 2026
Accepted: April 2, 2026
Published online: June 27, 2026
Processing time: 120 Days and 12.9 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Post-anesthesia handover in gastrointestinal surgery should be treated as a high-risk transition and a reliability intervention. Standardized content matters, but durable benefit depends on active receiver engagement, clear accountability, escalation planning, and audit feedback. At the bedside, teams should CLOSE the loop-confirm, loop-back, own the plan, signal rescue triggers, and evaluate understanding-to reduce omissions while preserving workflow discipline.