Racial and ethnic disparities in postoperative mortality among children remain an ongoing issue, according to a study published online on July 29 in Pediatrics.
The study, led by Dr. Olubukola O. Nafiu from Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, analyzed data from 673,677 children who underwent intermediate- to high-risk surgeries in U.S. hospitals between 2000 and 2019. The researchers aimed to estimate how many excess deaths could be avoided if Black and Hispanic children had postoperative mortality rates similar to those of White children. They also projected the mortality reductions needed to eliminate these disparities over the next decade.
