| Study | Reason for exclusion |
|---|---|
| Adeleye 2008 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Bekar 2001 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Bird 1984 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Braun 1995 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Breuer 2012 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Broekman 2011 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Chen 2002 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Clarke 1983 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Corcoran 2013 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Cruse 1973 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Dizer 2009 | Not an RCT or QRCT ‐ control and intervention groups ran at different time periods |
| Faheem 2012 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Finkelstein 2005 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Fraser 1978 | There was no skin incision ‐ transurethral surgery. |
| Gil 2003 | Not an RCT or QRCT ‐ retrospective study |
| Hallstrom 1993 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Hoe 1985 | Comparison (shaving surrounding surgical site versus shaving large area of skin) is not included in the review inclusion criteria. |
| Horgan 1997 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Howell 1988 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Huber 2016 | Not an intervention study |
| Idali 2004 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Kapadia 2012 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Kapadia 2013 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Korfali 1994 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Kose 2016 | Compared a 2‐centimetre strip of head hair removed by clippers against a 5‐centimetre strip of head hair removed by clippers ‐ this comparison is not included in the review inclusion criteria |
| Kovavisarach 2005 | Intervention group (cutting) not included in review inclusion criteria, and no surgical site skin incision. |
| Kretschmer 2000 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Kumar 2002 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Le Roux 1975 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Li 2013 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Liu 2008 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Lui 1984 | Intervention group (cropping) is not included in the review inclusion criteria. |
| Maksimovic 2008 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Marecek 2015 | Participants were healthy volunteers and not patients undergoing surgical procedures. |
| Masterson 1984 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| McIntyre 1994 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Mehta 1988 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Meiland 1986 | Not classed as a surgical procedure |
| Menéndez 2004 | There was no skin incision ‐ transurethral surgery. |
| Menendez Lopez 2004 | There was no skin incision ‐ transurethral surgery |
| Miller 2001 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Mishriki 1990 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Morey 2013 | A letter in response to a trial by Grober 2013 |
| Moro 1996 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Parizh 2016 | Not an RCT or QRCT. Intervention was care bundle. |
| Penson 2017 | Letter in response to article |
| Ratanalert 1999 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Ratanalert 2005 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Scherpereel 1993 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Sellick 1991 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Sheinberg 1999 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Siddique 1998 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Small 1996 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Stephens 1966 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Tang 2001 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Tokimura 2009 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Vestal 1952 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Viney 1992 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Waddington 2008 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Wang 1990 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Wang 1999 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Wang 2017 | A letter, not an RCT |
| Westermann 1979 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Winfield 1986 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Winston 1992 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
| Zentner 1987 | Not an RCT or QRCT |
Abbreviations
QRCT = quasi‐randomised controlled trial RCT = randomised controlled trial