Surgical management of cerebrovascular disease in Africa: a systematic review of state

Abstract Background Surgical management is one of the mainstay management options for cerebrovascular diseases, which is not only curative but also preventive. However, there's a gap between the surgical management of cerebrovascular disease in Africa when compared to the developed parts of the world. Methods A literature search was done on the state of Cerebrovascular surgery in Africa from databases such as Pubmed, Embase, and Google Scholar, articles we fetched and meticulously reviewed. Results We found gaps in the surgical management of cerebrovascular diseases such as stroke in African countries when compared to developed countries. The challenges facing the surgical management of cerebrovascular disease in Africa include a low number of neurosurgeons and vascular surgeons trained in the surgical management of these diseases, a lack of adequate facilities for surgical management, and others. The burden of cerebrovascular diseases in Africa is great, and this warrants an improvement in the surgical management of the conditions, which includes primary prevention of such diseases through public health education on risk factors, improvement of health facilities to accommodate recent advances in the cerebrovascular surgeries, establishments of several neurosurgery training centers. Conclusion The practice of surgical management of cerebrovascular disease in Africa needs to be optimized for it to be at the global standard and for better outcomes and management of patients.