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Research Article
Evaluation of surgical Apgar score as a predictor of post-operative complications in emergency general surgical patients in a Nigerian teaching hospital
1 Consultant General Surgeon, Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan/University College Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria
2 Senior registrar in General Surgery, Department of Surgery, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria
Address correspondence to:
Ikechukwu Bartholomew Ulasi
Department of Surgery, University College Hospital, PMB 5116, Ibadan, Oyo State,
Nigeria
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Article ID: 100057S05OA2022
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Afuwape O, Ulasi IB. Evaluation of surgical Apgar score as a predictor of post-operative complications in emergency general surgical patients in a Nigerian teaching hospital. Edorium J Surg 2022;9:100057S05OA2022.ABSTRACT
Aims: The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of the surgical Apgar score (SAS) to predict post-operative complications at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Nigeria.
Methods: This was a retrospective study of adult patients undergoing emergency general surgery procedures. The main end-points were post-operative mortality and surgical site infection (SSI). The ability of the SAS to predict post-operative outcomes was determined using the receiver operating characteristics curve (ROC). Statistical significance was defined by a p value of <0.05.
Results: The mean SAS was 5.6 ± 1.7 with majority of patients (61.4%, n = 70) being at medium risk (Apgar score 5–7) for post-operative complication. The most common post-operative complication was SSI (47.1%, n = 25) with a 30-day mortality of 9.6%. The ROC curve showed that the SAS is a poor predictor of post-operative complications (Area under the curve [AUC] = 0.408) and mortality (AUC = 0.394). However, there is a statistically significant association between mean SAS and occurrence of post-operative complications (p = 0.026).
Conclusion: The SAS does not predict post-operative complications in adult patients undergoing emergency general surgery procedures.
Keywords: Post-operative complications, Predictor, Surgical Apgar score
SUPPORTING INFORMATION
Author Contributions:
Oludolapo Afuwape - Substantial contributions to conception and design, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
Ikechukwu Bartholomew Ulasi - Acquisition of data, Analysis of data, Interpretation of data, Drafting the article, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
Guaranter of SubmissionThe corresponding author is the guarantor of submission.
Source of SupportNone
Consent StatementWritten informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this article.
Data AvailabilityAll relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files.
Conflict of InterestAuthors declare no conflict of interest.
Copyright© 2022 Oludolapo Afuwape et al. This article is distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium provided the original author(s) and original publisher are properly credited. Please see the copyright policy on the journal website for more information.
