Abstract:

Background: Colorectal surgery was a commonly performed surgical procedure in the care of a wide range of colorectal conditions worldwide, its attendant morbidity and mortality has been the subject of many studies. There is a paucity of published data regarding this subject in Tanzania and Bugando Medical Centre (BMC) in particular. This study describes the short-term outcomes and associated factors among patients undergoing colorectal surgery at BMC.

Methods: The study was a prospective longitudinal study involving adult patients who consented to underwent colorectal surgery at BMC from January 2023 to June 2023

Results: A total of 92 patients were studied. Out of these, 54(58.7%) were male and 38(41.3%) were female with a male to female ratio of 1.4:1. The age ranged from 18 to 84 years with a median age of 40[33.5-60]. The most common indication for colorectal surgery was obstruction and Sigmoidectomy was the most common surgical intervention accounting for 62.9% of all cases. Complication and mortality rates were 34.8% and15.2% respectively. Advanced age (pvalue=0.009), low hemoglobin levels (p-value=0.012), emergency surgery (p-value=0.016), time interval from diagnosis to surgery (p-value= 0.016), prolonged duration of surgery (pvalue=0.015), perforated/gangrenous colon (p-value =0.014) and surgery in contaminated/septic peritoneal cavity (p-value <0.001) were found to be significantly associated with early postoperative complications. The overall length of hospital stays were 46 days significantly to patients with co-morbidities (p-value=0.015), low hemoglobin levels (p-value=0.025), emergency surgery (p-value=0.037), perforated/gangrenous bowel (p-value=0.017) .Age (P value=0.002), comorbidities (P value= 0.009), Time interval from diagnosis to surgery (P value=0.018), perforated bowel (P value < 0.001), indication of surgery (P value = 0.017), and surgical procedure (P value < 0.001) were found to be significantly associated with mortality


Conclusion: Findings from the study showed that colorectal surgeries were associated with higher postoperative complications34.8% associated with advanced ages, presence of comorbidities, emergency surgery and surgery performed in gangrenous/perforated large bowel. Mortality post colorectal surgery was 15.2%associated with advanced age, prolonged from diagnosis to surgery, emergency surgery and surgery in gangrenous/perforated large bowel. The hospital stays longevity was46days associated with the presence of comorbidity, low hemoglobin level, emergency surgeries and gangrenous or perforated large bowel surgeries done patient who had low hemoglobin levels.