Black children are more likely to die after surgery than white counterparts, new study finds
Even among apparently healthy children, Black patients are almost three and a half times more likely to die within a month after surgery than white patients, according to a new study published in Pediatrics on Monday.
While previous research has explored racial disparities in surgical outcomes between adult patients, researchers in Monday’s study focused specifically on healthy children. In adults, those differences are often attributed to other overlapping health conditions or risks. But even when children had no underlying conditions, Black children still had a higher rate of death and complications after elective and emergency procedures than their white peers.
