Prevalence of Postoperative Hypoxemia and Its Predictors among Surgical Patients in Ethiopia: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: Postoperative hypoxemia refers to low oxygen levels in the blood following surgical procedures and is a significant concern in surgical care worldwide due to either inadequate blood flow or arterial oxygen content. This condition can adversely affect patient safety, respiratory failure, prolonged hospital stay, and increased morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this study was to determine the pooled burden and associated factors of postoperative hypoxemia among surgical patients in Ethiopia.

DESIGN

A systematic review and meta-analysis study was performed.

METHODS

A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed following the guidelines established by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. To identify papers published in English up to December 15, 2024, the electronic databases of Medline, Science Direct, Excerpta Medica Database, Cochrane Library, African Journals Online, and Google Scholar were searched. A random-effects model was employed to estimate the pooled prevalence and predictors of postoperative hypoxemia. To test for heterogeneity between studies and publication bias, forest plots and funnel plots were used.

FINDINGS: We included 10 full-text studies with 3,103 participants. This study revealed that the pooled prevalence of postoperative hypoxemia among surgical patients was 36.58 (95% confidence intervals [CI] 30.12, 43.03), reflecting the significant impact of surgery on postoperative hypoxemia, and 5 risk factors were identified. Age greater than 55 years (odds ratio [OR] = 5.44, 95% CI = 3.75 to 7.89), muscular strength score 0 (OR = 4.66, 95% CI = 3.16 to 6.9), presence of chronic disease (OR = 5.5, 95% CI = 3.53 to 8.6), surgical procedure duration greater than 2 hours (OR = 2.95, 95% CI = 2.14 to 4.060), and general type of anesthesia usage (OR = 4.77, 95% CI = 1.54 to 14.72), were the significant predictors.

CONCLUSIONS

Understanding the predictors of postoperative hypoxemia helps health care personnel to minimize the likelihood of postoperative hypoxemia by improving preoperative conditions, early detection, and swift treatment of intraoperative oxygen desaturation.