title: Lack of a clinically significant impact of race on morbidity and mortality in abdominal surgery: an analysis of 186,466 patients from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Poorer surgical outcomes in black compared with white patients have been reported, but it remains unclear if race independently predicts worse outcomes. We investigated if blacks have poorer outcomes than whites following abdominal surgery at quality-seeking hospitals.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using the American College of Surgeons' National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database, patients who were black or white and underwent common abdominal surgery procedures were identified. A total of 19,326 (10%) blacks and 167,140 (90%) whites undergoing abdominal surgery were analyzed. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS v20.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty-day mortality for blacks compared with whites was not statistically significant for any procedures reviewed (all P > .05). Thirty-day morbidity for blacks was slightly higher in appendectomy (P < .0001), small bowel resection (P < .0001), and partial colectomy (P < .0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Black compared with white patients did not have increased mortality following abdominal surgery but had minor, clinically insignificant, increased morbidity in appendectomy, small bowel resection, and partial colectomy.
authors.affiliation: Division of General Surgery, Department of Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Joshua H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Uhr
authors.affiliation: Division of General Surgery, Department of Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Adam C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Fields
authors.affiliation: Division of General Surgery, Department of Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA. Electronic address: Celia.Divino@mountsinai.org.
authors.forename: Celia M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Divino
mesh_terms: D000005:Abdomen / Q000601:surgery; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D016208:Databases, Factual; D013505:Digestive System Surgical Procedures; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality; D058996:Quality Improvement; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D044465:White People
keywords: NSQIP; Racial disparities; Surgical outcomes