Background: Birth injury is defined as structural damage of a newborn secondary to mechanical forces that occur during labor and/or delivery. This study determined the incidence, risk factors and outcome of birth injury. Methodology: This was an observational study of birth injuries in neonates, over a period of one year, carried out at a tertiary hospital in Enugu, south east, Nigeria. Results: Out of the 1,735 births recorded during the period of the study, there were 19 cases of birth injuries. This gave an incidence of 11 per 1000 live births. No neonate had more than one injury. They were thirteen males and six females that sustained birth injury. Cephalohematoma was the most common birth injury. Others are caput succedaneum, clavicular fracture, Erb's palsy, femoral fracture, humeral fracture, shoulder dislocation and facial laceration. Mode of delivery, neonatal birth weight, gestational age and maternal parity were significant predictive risk factors for birth injury. Conclusion: In the current study, cephalohematoma was the most common birth injury, followed by caput succedaneum. There is need to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with birth injuries.

Background: An increasing number of paediatric day case surgeries are being carried out in developing countries due to the benefits of day case surgery and lots of papers are being published. However, there is no published paper on paediatric day case surgery from Enugu State University Teaching Hospital (ESUTH), Enugu. Methodology: This was a prospective study of children who had surgery on day case basis at the paediatric surgery unit of a tertiary hospital in Enugu, south east Nigeria, over a period of one year. Result: Out of the 135 surgeries done during the period of the study, 81 cases were day case surgeries, accounting for 60% of the cases. There were 69 males (85.2%) and 12 females (14.8%). The mean age and weight of the patients was 44.9 months and 16.5 kilograms respectively. The mean duration of surgery was 35.1 minutes while the mean duration of stay in the hospital post-surgery before going home was 5.2 hours. The most common diagnosis was hydrocele and herniotomy/herniorraphy was the most common surgical procedure performed. Conclusion: Paediatric day case surgery constitutes a significant workload of the paediatric surgeon. Herniotomy/herniorraphy was the most common procedure performed and most parents were satisfied. The scope of paediatric day case can be improved and the practice made more effective.

Introduction: Despite the importance of zinc in the human body, there is paucity of data on the zinc status of Nigerian children. The aim of this study was to determine the serum zinc levels of children attending the pediatric outpatient clinic of a tertiary hospital in South East Nigeria and to assess their need for routine zinc supplementation. Materials and Methods: One hundred children aged 5–60 months were recruited consecutively from the pediatric outpatient clinic. Their socioeconomic class (SEC) was assessed using the tool developed by Oyedeji. Physical examination was carried out to exclude malnutrition and/or liver disease. Samples were collected in the morning from nonfasting subjects and were analyzed using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Serum zinc deficiency was defined as zinc level <80 μg/dl. Results: The overall median (range) serum zinc level was 83.3ug/dl (60–105 μg/dl) while the median (mean rank) serum zinc levels among male and female subjects were 83.4 μg/dl and 84.2ug/dl, respectively ( U = 1071.00; P = 0.228). A total of 26 (26%) apparently healthy children had low serum zinc levels. There was no association between gender and serum zinc levels (χ 2 = 2.163; P = 0.141). A significant positive but weak relationship was found between SEC and zinc levels ( r = 0.208, P = 0.038) but not between serum zinc levels and age of the children ( r = 0.185, P = 0.065). Conclusion: A significant proportion of Under-5s could have low serum zinc levels. Routine zinc supplementation may be necessary among this age group in Nigeria.

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