title: Audit of 'surgery in general' in an African teaching hospital.
abstract: A 1-year prospective audit of 2233 operations performed by one general surgical unit in a Central African teaching hospital is presented. In addition to the usual 'general surgical' procedures, operations also included emergency craniotomy, reconstructive surgery for open fractures, and hysterectomy. There were 37 (1.7%) postoperative deaths and 45 other deaths in non-operated patients. Ten of 14 deaths due to sepsis in the 20-40-year age group were associated with HIV infection. The implications for teaching and training of surgical specialists in the tropics are discussed.
authors.affiliation: University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia.
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Watters
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bem
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Echun
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ahmed
mesh_terms: D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000592:standards; D013502:General Surgery / Q000193:education; D006785:Hospitals, University / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D008485:Medical Audit; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D013503:Surgery Department, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration*; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative / Q000401:mortality; D015024:Zambia / Q000453:epidemiology