COLUMBUS – A new study from Nationwide Children’s Hospital shows Black children die more often than white children following common surgeries.
The study published Monday in Pediatrics echoes evidence seen in adults.
Researchers examined national data on nearly 173,000 operations from 2012 through 2017 and found that apparently healthy Black children were nearly 3 1/2 times more likely to die within 30 days after surgery than white chldren, said Dr. Olubukola Nafiu, pediatric anesthesiologist and vice chair for Academic Affairs and Research at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and lead author of the study.
“Importantly, we want to highlight that these findings are from observational data. Race doesn’t cause these outcomes, but it is strongly associated with them,” Nafiu said.
Appendix removal and orthopedic operations were among the most common surgeries.
While there were few deaths, the disparities were striking.
The results show 23 black youngsters died within 30 days of surgery compared with 13 whites.
Some pre-existing health issues were more common in Black youngsters but the authors say they don’t fully explain the results.
Naifu says further research should be done on which post-operative complications are responsible for the disparity and addressing them.