학술논문

The scope of operative general paediatric surgical diseases in South Africa-the Chris Hani Baragwanath experience
Original Research
Document Type
Academic Journal
Source
Annals of Pediatric Surgery. January 18, 2021, Vol. 16 Issue 1
Subject
Sub-Saharan Africa
South Africa
Language
English
ISSN
1687-4137
Abstract
Author(s): Maame Tekyiwa Botchway [sup.1], Deirdre Kruger [sup.2], Charles Adjei Manful [sup.3], Andrew Grieve [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.11951.3d, 0000 0004 1937 1135, Department Surgery, Division of Paediatric Surgery, School [...]
Background Infectious diseases have always been the lime light of global health with very little focus on childhood surgical conditions despite the fact that children constitute about half of the population in LMICs. A significant proportion of the burden of global disease can be reduced by surgical intervention. South Africa is one of the pioneers of the practice of paediatric surgery in Africa with a great burden of paediatric surgical conditions. Few studies, if any, have investigated the burden of operative paediatric surgical procedures in South Africa. Therefore, this retrospective study aimed to look at the scope of operative paediatric surgical procedures at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital (CHBAH) based in Johannesburg, South Africa, and reports on the numbers of elective and emergency procedures over a 12-month study period. Results There were 1699 operative general paediatric surgical procedures of which 61.7% were electives and 38.3% were emergencies. The scope of general paediatric surgical conditions operated on fell under the categories of congenital anomalies, infections and tumours. Of these, surgeries for congenital anomalies were performed in almost all the subspecialties. Conclusion There is a high operative paediatric surgical burden at the CHBAH. The role of paediatric surgical care as an essential component of global health cannot be underrated.