Neurosurgery Literature Search Skill

This skill guides comprehensive literature searching for neurosurgery systematic reviews.

When to Use

Invoke this skill when the user:

• Needs to search PubMed for studies
• Wants to develop a search strategy
• Asks about MeSH terms for neurosurgery
• Needs Boolean operators help
• Mentions "literature search" or "search strategy"

Neurosurgery MeSH Terms

Subspecialties

| Subspecialty | MeSH Terms | |--------------|------------| | Neuro-oncology | "Brain Neoplasms", "Glioma", "Meningioma", "Pituitary Neoplasms" | | Vascular | "Intracranial Aneurysm", "Arteriovenous Malformations", "Subarachnoid Hemorrhage" | | Spine | "Spinal Fusion", "Laminectomy", "Intervertebral Disc Degeneration" | | Trauma | "Craniocerebral Trauma", "Traumatic Brain Injury", "Decompressive Craniectomy" | | Functional | "Deep Brain Stimulation", "Epilepsy Surgery", "Movement Disorders" | | Pediatric | "Craniosynostoses", "Hydrocephalus", "Myelomeningocele" |

Common Procedures

| Procedure | MeSH Term | |-----------|-----------| | Craniotomy | "Craniotomy" | | Craniectomy | "Decompressive Craniectomy" | | Shunting | "Cerebrospinal Fluid Shunts", "Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt" | | Endoscopy | "Neuroendoscopy", "Third Ventriculostomy" | | Radiosurgery | "Radiosurgery", "Gamma Knife Radiosurgery" | | Spine fusion | "Spinal Fusion" | | Discectomy | "Diskectomy" |

Outcome Measures

| Scale | MeSH/Keyword | |-------|--------------| | GCS | "Glasgow Coma Scale" | | GOS | "Glasgow Outcome Scale" | | mRS | "modified Rankin Scale"[tw] | | NIHSS | "NIH Stroke Scale"[tw] | | KPS | "Karnofsky Performance Status" |

Search Strategy Building

Step 1: Define PICO

P (Population): Patients with malignant MCA infarction
I (Intervention): Decompressive craniectomy
C (Comparator): Medical management
O (Outcome): Mortality, functional outcome (mRS)

Step 2: Map Concepts to MeSH + Keywords

Population concept:

"Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery"[MeSH] OR
"malignant MCA infarction"[tiab] OR
"malignant middle cerebral artery"[tiab] OR
"space-occupying cerebral infarction"[tiab]

Intervention concept:

"Decompressive Craniectomy"[MeSH] OR
"decompressive surgery"[tiab] OR
"hemicraniectomy"[tiab] OR
"craniectomy"[tiab]

Step 3: Combine with Boolean

(
  "Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery"[MeSH] OR
  "malignant MCA infarction"[tiab] OR
  "malignant middle cerebral artery"[tiab]
)
AND
(
  "Decompressive Craniectomy"[MeSH] OR
  "decompressive surgery"[tiab] OR
  "hemicraniectomy"[tiab]
)

Step 4: Apply Filters

AND (
  "Randomized Controlled Trial"[pt] OR
  "Controlled Clinical Trial"[pt] OR
  "randomized"[tiab] OR
  "randomised"[tiab]
)
AND "humans"[MeSH]
AND "2000/01/01"[PDAT] : "2024/12/31"[PDAT]

Search Field Tags

| Tag | Field | Example | |-----|-------|---------| | [MeSH] | MeSH term | "Craniotomy"[MeSH] | | [tiab] | Title/Abstract | "hemicraniectomy"[tiab] | | [tw] | Text word | "mRS"[tw] | | [pt] | Publication type | "Randomized Controlled Trial"[pt] | | [PDAT] | Publication date | "2020/01/01"[PDAT] | | [au] | Author | "Smith J"[au] | | [ta] | Journal | "J Neurosurg"[ta] |

Study Design Filters

RCT Filter (Cochrane Highly Sensitive)

randomized controlled trial[pt] OR
controlled clinical trial[pt] OR
randomized[tiab] OR
placebo[tiab] OR
clinical trials as topic[mesh:noexp] OR
randomly[tiab] OR
trial[ti]

Observational Studies Filter

"Cohort Studies"[MeSH] OR
"Case-Control Studies"[MeSH] OR
"retrospective"[tiab] OR
"prospective"[tiab] OR
"observational"[tiab]

Key Neurosurgery Journals

"J Neurosurg"[ta] OR
"Neurosurgery"[ta] OR
"World Neurosurg"[ta] OR
"Acta Neurochir"[ta] OR
"J Neurotrauma"[ta] OR
"Spine"[ta] OR
"Eur Spine J"[ta] OR
"J Neurooncol"[ta] OR
"Neuro Oncol"[ta] OR
"Stroke"[ta] OR
"J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis"[ta]

Example Complete Search

Decompressive Craniectomy for TBI

# Population: Traumatic brain injury
(
  "Craniocerebral Trauma"[MeSH] OR
  "Brain Injuries, Traumatic"[MeSH] OR
  "traumatic brain injury"[tiab] OR
  "TBI"[tiab] OR
  "head injury"[tiab]
)

# Intervention: Decompressive craniectomy
AND (
  "Decompressive Craniectomy"[MeSH] OR
  "decompressive surgery"[tiab] OR
  "craniectomy"[tiab] OR
  "hemicraniectomy"[tiab]
)

# Filters
AND "humans"[MeSH]
AND "2000"[PDAT] : "2024"[PDAT]
AND English[lang]

Using the Search Tool

mcp__neuroresearch__search_pubmed(
    query="decompressive craniectomy AND traumatic brain injury",
    max_results=100,
    date_range="2015:2024"
)

Documentation

Always document:

1. Date of search
2. Database(s) searched
3. Complete search string
4. Number of results
5. Limits applied
6. Grey literature sources (if searched)