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.