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Introduction The armed conflict in the Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo has caused close to 12,000 deaths. One of the most lethal weapons in armed conflicts is the high explosive hand grenade. The study aimed to describe the epidemiology, presentation, and outcomes of hand grenade blast injuries (HGBI) in the Kivu province. Methods In this case series, the authors present 2017 to 2020 HGBI admissions at a Congolese trauma center. Measures of central tendency and spread were computed for continuous data. Complication and mortality rates were equally computed. Admission-to-discharge data were disaggregated by the body part injured and by complication status and visualized using time-to-event curves. Results Thirty-eight HGBI patients aged 31.4 (range 17–56) years were included in the study. Twenty-six (68.4%) were male and the patients were admitted 1.8 days post-injury on average. The patients were hemodynamically stable at admission; 84.2% received the antitetanic vaccine, 21.1% received broad-spectrum antibiotics, and all were debrided (100.0%). The complication rate was 13.2%, and the most common complication was anemia (7.9%). In addition, the mortality rate was 2.6%. The median admission-to-discharge time was 17.0 (range 4–71) days, and it was prolonged in patients with lower extremity injuries (23.0 days). Conclusion HGBIs cause avertable death and disability in the Kivu regions. These data suggest that the burden of HGBIs can be reduced with appropriate preventive and health systems strengthening interventions.

Introduction The Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been the battleground for multiple armed conflicts, resulting in many fatal and nonfatal firearm injuries (F&NFFIs). Chronic insecurity has stressed the health system’s resources and created barriers to seeking, reaching, and receiving timely care further increasing the F&NFFI burden. Our institution is the largest trauma center in the region and receives the bulk of F&NFFI cases. We aimed to identify correlates of mortality in Congolese F&NFFI patients. Methods We included all F&NFFI patients admitted to our institution between 2017 and 2020. We extracted data from patient charts and admission logs. We identified mortality correlates using the two-sample t-test, Chi-square test, and multivariable regression analysis. A P-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results This study included 814 adult patients, mostly male (86%) with an average age of 34.5 years and living 154.4 km away from the hospital on average. The most affected anatomical sites were the lower limbs (48.2%) and upper limbs (23.2%). The median length of stay was 34.0 days, and the in-hospital mortality rate was 3.6%. In addition, mortality was negatively correlated with diastolic blood pressure (P = 0.01), SaO2 (P < 0.001), and hemoglobin concentration (P = 0.002). Conclusion F&NFFIs cause an enormous burden in the region, and mortality is correlated with some clinical and biological variables. Thus, the study findings will inform F&NFFI referral, triage, and management in low-resource and mass casualty settings.

Lumbosacral agenesis is a rare and complex malformation characterized by a total or partial absence of the lumbosacral vertebrae. It is often associated with other congenital malformations. Its etiology is poorly understood but factors such as gestational diabetes, genetic abnormalities and environmental factors are incriminated. We report the case of a female infant, 11 months old, who presented with lumbosacral agenesis. As our hospital was less equipped to deal with this complex malformation, we transferred the infant to another better equipped hospital.

Lumbosacral agenesis is a rare and complex malformation characterized by a total or partial absence of the lumbosacral vertebrae. It is often associated with other malformations. Its etiology is poorly understood but factors such as gestational diabetes, genetic abnormalities and environmental factors are incriminated.