Spectrum of Paediatric Surgical Cases in a Private Mission Teaching Hospital in Nigeria

INTRODUCTION: Establishing the nature of conditions requiring surgery among children in a particular location may be crucial for policy formulation and implementation as regards paediatric surgery. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to describe the pattern and outcome of paediatric surgical cases operated upon in a newly established paediatric surgical unit in Nigeria. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study of all subjects that were operated upon by the paediatric surgery unit over a 28-month period. Data obtained included age, sex, diagnosis, timing of surgery, post-treatment complications and outcome. Diagnoses were categorised based on the International Classification of Diseases 11(th) revision for morbidity and mortality statistics. Data analysis was done using Stata version 12. RESULTS: A total of 377 procedures were performed on 336 patients with a male-to-female ratio of 2.1:1. The median age at surgery was 36 months. Disorders of the digestive system (184, 48.8%) and developmental anomalies (119, 31.6%) accounted for majority of the cases, with inguinal hernias and hydrocoeles accounting for 17.0% of all cases. Thirty-six per cent of the procedures were emergent ones, and the overall complication rate was 23.6% (89/377). The unplanned re-operation rate was 7.4% (25/336) and mortality rate was 5.1% (17/336). Typhoid ileal perforation was responsible for 4 (23.5%) of the deaths. CONCLUSION: Congenital anomalies and surgical infections represent a major surgical burden among children in our sub-region of Nigeria. There is, therefore, the need for focused research on these conditions and the integration of children surgery into public health programmes for children in sub-Saharan Africa.