Harmful incidents following gynaecological ambulatory surgery: A scoping review

Aim: To map the types and frequencies of harmful incidents identified in research to occur following gynaecological ambulatory surgery. Design and methods: A scoping review was conducted using the JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis. Data Sources: MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Scopus and Web of Science was searched for records published from inception to February of 2025. Results: Forty-one studies were included. Most of the harmful incidents identified to have occurred following gynaecological ambulatory surgery were mapped as physiological harm, including postoperative infections, bleeding and pain. The only harmful incident pertaining to other dimensions of harm was anxiety, which was mapped as psychological harm. Conclusion: In this scoping review, all except one of the identified and mapped harmful incidents resulted from the physiological impact and tissue damage of undergoing surgical treatment. Anxiety was the only psychological harm identified to have occurred following gynaecological ambulatory surgery. No social harmful incidents were identified from the included studies. Protocol Registration: The Open Science Framework; https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/VD6CB.