Racial Disparities in Surgery: A Cross-Specialty Matched Comparison Between Black and White Patients.

Objective:To determine if Black race is associated with worse short-term postoperative morbidity and mortality when compared to White race in a contemporary, cross-specialty-matched cohort. Background:Growing evidence suggests poorer outcomes for Black patients undergoing surgery. Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted comprising of all patients undergoing surgery in the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program dataset between 2012 and 2018. One-to-one coarsened exact matching was conducted between Black and White patients. Primary outcome was rate of 30-day morbidity and mortality. Results:After 1:1 matching, 615,118 patients were identified. Black race was associated with increased rate of all-cause morbidity (odds ratio [OR] = 1.10, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.08-1.13, PPPPPPPPPPPPPPConclusion and Relevance:This contemporary matched analysis demonstrates an association with increased morbidity, mortality, and readmissions for Black patients across surgical procedures and specialties.