TITLE: OUTCOMES OF PEDIATRIC CANCER SURGERY IN MEXICO: A NATIONWIDE HOSPITAL-BASED COHORT STUDY (2019–2022) gabriellahyman@gmail.com

 

TITLE: OUTCOMES OF PEDIATRIC CANCER SURGERY IN MEXICO: A NATIONWIDE HOSPITAL-BASED COHORT STUDY (2019–2022)

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Tarsicio Uribe-Leitz tarsiciouribe@gmail.com Boston Children's Hospital Global Health Boston United States

Jaime Shalkow-Klincovstein drshalkow@gmail.com American British Cowdray Cancer Center, Mexico Pediatric Surgery Mexico City Mexico

 

 

South Africa

Oral or Poster

Pediatric cancers remain a challenge in low-resource settings, where limited surgical capacity data affects outcomes. In Mexico, national data on pediatric cancer surgery are scarce. This study examines trends and outcomes of surgical cancer admissions among children in public hospitals.

We conducted a retrospective cohort analysis of all pediatric cancer patients aged <18 years (ICD-10 codes: C00-C97) hospitalized in the public health system of Mexico, from 2019 to 2022, using the Ministry of Health’s hospital discharge database. Surgical procedures and outcomes were identified from procedure records. We used descriptive statistics and regression models to quantify incidence and in-hospital outcomes (length of stay(LOS) and in-hospital mortality), in Python v3.13.5.

Among 1662367 hospitalized pediatric patients, 11237(0.68%) had a recorded cancer diagnosis, of whom, 9878(87.9%) received surgical care. The mean cohort age was 8.81years(SD = 5.82). Overall in-hospital mortality rate was 2.69%(n = 266;STD=0.087), with significant variation across age groups(p< 0.001). Adolescents (15-17) had the highest mortality(4.55%), followed by 1-4 (3.27%), 10-14 (2.86%), and 5-9 year-olds(1.30%). Mean LOS for surgical cancer patients was 6.03 days(SD: 11.57). LOS differed significantly by age group(ANOVA:p< 0.001), with children aged 1-4 experiencing the longest mean LOS. Most patients(88.8%) were discharged; in-hospital mortality was 3.9%(n=383). Age-adjusted mortality was stable with yearly mortality rates of 2.71%(2019), 2.79%(2020), 2.55%(2021), and 2.71(2022)(SD: 0.0014),with no significant year-on-year change(p = 0.96).

The majority of pediatric cancers in Mexico require surgical care. While in-hospital mortality is low overall, higher risks in the youngest and oldest age groups demonstrate the need for targeted perioperative interventions.