Background: The knowledge of pattern of illness provides an insight to the health or otherwise of a society, useful for planning and allocation of resources. Fractures are common emergency surgical presentations in our practice, and patients are sometimes unable to pay for the cost of fracture care resulting in a dynamic traffic for alternative care. This study therefore aims at describing the anatomical region and outcome of fractures seen at the Surgery Department of the Rivers State Teaching Hospital, from 2016 to 2020. Materials and Methods: A descriptive retrospective cross-sectional study was carried out in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, using admission and discharge registers to identify all patients with fractures at the Surgery Department of the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital, from 2016 to 2020. The collected data was entered into Excel Spreadsheet, and tabulated. Results: A total of 223 patients had fractures involving different bones. The male to female ratio was 1.9: 1. The mean age of the patients was 40.53, and the age ranges 30 -39 years (38), 40 -49 years (44), and 50 -59 years (33) were more involved in the fracture cases. There were more fractures of the tibia (17.3%) and fibula (16.0%) within the five-year period. Out of the total of 223 patients who had fractures, 159 (71.3%) were admitted to the wards, treated and discharged home. Twenty-five patients (11.2%) signed against medical advice. Thirty-four (15.2%) absconded from admission, while 5 (2.2%) died from complications of the fractures. Conclusion: Fracture is a common surgical emergency in our practice with male preponderance. Most of the patients were treated and discharged. However, about a quarter of the patients left the hospital before treatment could be completed.

Background: Surgical diseases are significant contributors to global burden of disease. Although surgical services at this institution have long been provided, the pattern of surgical diseases has not been well documented. This study therefore is an attempt to provide evidence of the spectrum of general surgical diseases seen in the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital from January 2016 to December 2021. Materials and Methods: A retrospective descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out at the Surgery Department with the accident & emergency department, surgical outpatient clinics, and operating theatre as study sites. Data on total population of general surgery cases found in the registers from 2016 to 2021 was collated, tabulated and the mean values were analysed using the Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet and SPSS version 23. Results: There were a total of 1618 (24.3%) benign breast diseases, 1507 (22.6%) inguinal hernias, 1154 (17.3%) malignant breast diseases seen in the clinics. Only 58 (0.9%) malignant goiters, 215 (3.2%) other goiters, 107 (1.5%) femoral hernias, and 590 (8.9%) other hernias were seen. There were 1666 emergency general surgical conditions seen within the six-year study period, out of which 1019 (61.2%) were acute abdominal conditions, and 513 (30.8%) were trauma-related injuries. Two thousand three hundred and seven (2307) general surgical procedures were performed, out of which 659 (28.6%) were traumarelated conditions, and 235 (10.2%) were specifically gunshot injuries. Conclusion: Breast diseases and hernias were the most commonly seen in clinics, while acute abdominal conditions and traumarelated injuries were the most prevalent emergency general surgical conditions in our practice.

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Background: Many rewarding life activities are associated with some stress, and academic activities are no exception. This study aimed to evaluate the sources of stress, stress-coping strategies adopted, hours of personal

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