‘Twice as many die’ after surgery in Nigeria, others

Patients undergoing surgery in Nigeria and other parts of Africa are more than twice as likely to die following an operation than the global average, according to researchers in a new study.

The study, said to be the largest of its kind ever undertaken in Africa, analysed data of 11,422 adult patients across in 25 countries, including Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt and South Africa.

According to the researchers, the most worrying revelation was just how few Africans have access to elective surgery surgery that is scheduled in advance.

The number of these operations is 20 times lower than the demand, the study in the Lancet medical journal says.

They call the deficit a “silent killer”.

Prof Bruce Biccard, a co-author of the study from the University of Cape Town, told The Guardian the main problem was a lack of medical staff and facilities to spot complications after the surgery.

“[The reason] that people do so terribly in Africa from a surgical point of view is that there are just no human resources,” he said.

Globally, an average of 1% of patients die after surgery, but researchers say this number rises to 2.1% for patients in Africa.

Post-surgery survival rates are lower in Africa than the global average despite patients there being younger and lower risk, the report says.

Patients in Africa also mostly undergo surgery that is “more minor” and have “fewer complications”.

The most common surgery is caesarean delivery, which accounts for 33% of operations. Infection was the most common post-surgery complication, researchers say.