Post-operative fever in the Central African Republic

Postoperative fever (PFO) is a rise in body temperature above 38.3°C following major surgery. It can also be defined as a temperature rise above 39° C taken once after surgery or a temperature of over 38°C taken consecutively over two days after surgery. In many cases this phenomenon is associated with infectious complications of the surgical site but also with other infections and medications administered. Based on a retrospective study covering the period from January 2019 to December 2021 of patients who presented with postoperative fever at the CHU de l'Amitié Sino-Centrafricaine in Bangui we determined the frequency and identified the factors favoring it. For 1359 abdominal surgery procedures performed during the period the frequency of postoperative fevers was 35.6%. In 83.6% of cases patients underwent emergency surgery for acute generalized peritonitis (34%) acute appendicitis (25.1%) and intestinal obstruction.