Background
Access to safe surgical treatment across Latin America is limited by underfunded and fragmented health systems. Epidemiological data are required to describe surgical activity and patient outcomes.
Methods
We did this 7 day prospective cohort study in 17 Latin American countries, collecting data describing inpatient surgery in adults (aged ≥18 years). The primary outcome was in-hospital postoperative complications within 30 days after surgery. Secondary outcomes were in-hospital mortality, duration of hospital stay, and admission to critical care within 30 days after surgery. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT05169164.
Findings
Between June 1, 2022, and April 30, 2023, we included 22 126 patients (mean age 49·7 years [SD 18·2]; 9260 [41·9%] male and 12866 [58·1%] female; 10 180 [46·0%] White) from 284 hospitals. Of the 22126 patients, 657 (3·0%) patients for the outcome of complications and 380 (1·7%) patients for mortality had missing data. Most patients were low risk (American Society of Anesthesiologists [ASA] grade I or II: 17 311 [78·7%] of 21 979 patients), undergoing non-major surgery (14 944 [68·0%] of 21 986 patients), and on an elective basis (14 837 [67·5%] of 21 988 patients). Despite this low-risk profile, 3163 (14·6%) of 21 632 patients developed postoperative complications resulting in 477 (2·2%) deaths.
The most frequent complication category was infection, affecting 1795 (8·2%) patients. The high mortality from complications (failure to rescue) of 15·1% (477 deaths in 3163 patients with complications) suggests significant problems with postoperative care. 2978 (13·6%) patients were admitted to a critical unit immediately after surgery, but 180 (37·7%) of 477 patients who died never received critical care. Patients with complications had a median hospital stay of 8 days (IQR 3–18), compared with 2 days (1–3) for patients without complications. Postoperative mortality and complications were strongly associated with increasing ASA grade, urgency of surgery, and grade of surgery (intermediate and major).
Interpretation
Patients receiving inpatient surgery in Latin America experienced high mortality rates, likely relating to standards of ward care after surgery. Given the rising demand for surgical treatments, resource-efficient measures are urgently needed to improve patient outcomes after surgery across Latin America.