Background The abdomen is one of the most commonly injured regions in trauma patients. Abdominal injury surgeries are common in Tanzania and in many parts of the world. This study aimed to determine the relationships among the causes, characteristics, patterns and outcomes of abdominal injury patients undergoing operations at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre. Methods A prospective observational study was performed over a period of 1 year from August 2016 to August 2017. A case was defined as a trauma patient with abdominal injuries admitted to the general surgery department and undergoing an operation. We assessed injury types, patterns, aetiologies and outcomes within 30 days. The outcomes were post-operative complications and mortality. Multivariate logistic regression was used to explore the association between factors associated with morbidity and mortality. Results Out of 136 patients, 115 (84.6%) were male, with a male-to-female ratio of 5.5:1. The most affected patients were in the age range of 21–40 years old, which accounted for 67 patients (49.3%), with a median age (IQR) of 31.5 (21.3–44.8) years. A majority (99 patients; 72.8%) had blunt abdominal injury, with a blunt-to-penetrating ratio of 2.7:1. The most common cause of injury was road traffic accidents (RTAs; 73 patients; 53.7%). Commonly injured organs in blunt and penetrating injuries were, respectively, the spleen (33 patients; 91.7%) and small bowel (12 patients; 46.1%). Most patients (89; 65.4%) had associated extra-abdominal injuries. Post-operative complications were observed in 57 patients (41.9%), and the mortality rate was 18 patients (13.2%). In the univariate analysis, the following were significantly associated with mortality: associated extra-abdominal injury (odds ratio (OR): 4.9; P -value< 0.039); head injury (OR: 4.4; P -value < 0.005); pelvic injury (OR: 3.9; P -value< 0.043); length of hospital stay (LOS) ≥ 7 days (OR: 4.2; P -value < 0.022); severe injury on the New Injury Severity Score (NISS) (OR: 21.7; P -value < 0.003); time > 6 h from injury to admission (OR: 4.4; P -value < 0.025); systolic BP < 90 (OR: 3.5; P -value < 0.015); and anaemia (OR: 4.7; P -value< 0.006). After adjustment, the following significantly predicted mortality: severe injury on the NISS (17 patients; 25.8%; adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 15.5, 95% CI: 1.5–160, P -value < 0.02) and time > 6 h from injury to admission (15 patients; 19.2%; aOR: 4.3, 95% CI: 1.0–18.9, P -value < 0.05). Conclusion Blunt abdominal injury was common and mostly associated with RTAs. Associated extra-abdominal injury, injury to the head or pelvis, LOS ≥ 7 days, systolic BP < 90 and anaemia were a...

ObjectiveThis study aims to determine the distribution of blood groups and the demographic background of blood donors in a referral hospital in Northern Tanzania.ResultsThe most common blood group was O (52.3%) and the least common was AB (3.18%). 97.7% of the blood donors were Rh positive and the rest were Rh negative. Most donors were young adults, representing the age group of 19–29. The majority of donors were male (88.1%) and the majority (90.8%) were replacement while the remainder was voluntary donors.

Introduction Childhood undernutrition is a major public health problem especially in low and middle-income countries (LMIC). The prevalence of early introduction of complementary feeding, low meal frequency, and low dietary diversity are frequent in LMICs. The effect of inappropriate complementary feeding practices on the nutritional status of children is not well documented in East African countries including Tanzania. Therefore, this study aimed at determining the effect of inappropriate complementary feeding practices on the nutritional status of children aged 6–24 months in urban Moshi, Tanzania. Methodology A retrospective cohort study was done using the Pasua and Majengo cohorts of mother-child pairs in urban Moshi who were enrolled from 2002 to 2017. About 3355 mother-child pairs were included in the analysis. Appropriate complementary feeding practices were assessed using WHO IYFP indicators such as age at introduction of solid, semi-solid, or soft foods, minimum dietary diversity, and minimum meal frequency. Nutritional status (stunting, wasting, and underweight) was determined. Multilevel modeling was applied to obtain the effect of inappropriate complementary feeding practices on the nutritional status of children and to account for the clustering effect of mothers and children and the correlation of repeated measures within each child. Results Majority of the children (91.2%) were given soft/semi-solid/solid foods before six months of age, 40.3percent had low meal frequency, and 74percent had low dietary diversity. Early introduction of complementary food at age 0–1 month was statistically significantly associated with higher risks of wasting and underweight (ARR 2.9, 95%CI 1.3–6.3; and ARR 2.6, 95% CI 1.3–5.1 respectively). Children with low minimum meal frequency had higher risks of stunting, wasting, and underweight (ARR 2.9, 95%CI 2.3–3.6; ARR 1.9, 95%CI 1.5–2.5 and ARR 1.9, 95%CI 1.5–2.4 respectively). Children with low minimum dietary diversity were more likely to be stunted than is the case with their peers who received the minimum dietary diversity (ARR 1.3, 95% CI 1.01–1.6). Conclusion There were a high proportion of children, which were fed inappropriately; Inappropriate complementary feeding practices predisposed children to undernutrition. Our study supports the introduction of complementary feeding, providing minimum dietary diversity, and minimum feeding frequency at six months of age as important in improving the nutritional status of the children.