Trauma: a major cause of death among surgical inpatients of a Nigerian tertiary hospital

Abstract

IntroductionTrauma presents a significant global health burden. Death resulting from trauma remains high in low income countries despite a steady decrease in developed countries. Analysis of the pattern of death will enable intervention to reduce these deaths from trauma in developing countries. This study aims to present the pattern of trauma-related deaths in the surgical wards of University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH).MethodsThis was a retrospective study of all patients who died from trauma during admission into the surgical wards of UPTH from 2007 to 2012. Data on demography and traumatic events leading to death were collected from surgical wards, the emergency unit, and theatre records and analyzed using SPSS version 16.0.ResultsTrauma accounted for 219 (42.4%) of the 527 mortalities recorded. Most of the deaths (62.6 %) occurred between 20 and 59 years. There were 148 males (67.6 %). The yearly mortality rates were as follows: 2007(12.3 %); 2008 (16.9%); 2009 (9.1%), 2010 (12.8 %), 2011 (23.3%) and 2012 (25.6%). Most of the patients (91.3%) died within 1 month of admission. The major events leading to deaths were burns 105(47.9%), traumatic brain injuries were 63(28.8%), and spinal cord injuries 21(9.6%). The secondary causes of death were mainly septic shock 112(51.1%); Respiratory failure 60(27.4%); and Multiple organ dysfunction 44(20.1%).ConclusionTrauma is a leading cause of mortality in the surgical wards of our hospital. Trauma -related deaths continues to increase over the years. Safe keeping of petroleum products and adherence to traffic rules will reduce these avoidable deaths.

Epidemiologic Aspects of Spinal Cord Trauma Cases among Traffic Accident Victims

“…The death rates resulting from traffic accidents decreased in some countries [36,37], including Brazil [38], however, among victims of external causes, traffic accidents were responsible for the majority of deaths [25,39]. Mortality in high-degree accidents may result from the absence of compliance with safety rules and the lack of use of protective equipment [40].…”

Evaluation of Nexus X-ray Rules in Blunt Thorax Trauma

“…Inclusion criteria were: 1) Patients over 18 years of age, (2) patients who applied to the emergency department within 24 hours after blunt trauma (3) were asked to perform thorax imaging. The exclusion criteria were: (1) Patients under the age of 18 (2) who did not want to take part in this study (3) who applied to the emergency department due to penetrating injury mechanism (4) who applied to our emergency department more than 24 hours after trauma (5) X-ray untreated or unreached patients.…”

“…Thoracic, head, vertebral and abdominal traumas frequently result in death. [1][2][3] Currently, there are accepted imaging rules in abdominal and extremity trauma except head and cervical traumas. [4][5][6][7] For example, when evaluating head trauma, Glasgow coma score (GCS), as well as Canadian Brain Computed Tomography (CT) rules or New Orleans Brain CT rules, are used, and Nexus cer-Cite this article as: Acar E, Demir A, Yıldırım B, Kaya G, Alataş ÖD, Kılınç RM, et al Evaluation of the Nexus X-ray rules in blunt thorax trauma.…”

Predictors of complications and mortality in traumatic spinal cord injuries

“…По прогнозам Всемирной организации здравоохранения (ВОЗ), ожидается дальнейшее возрастание травматизма и смертности от травм на 40 % к 2030 г. [1,2]. Ежегодно в мире около 200 000 человек получают позвоночно-спинномозговую травму (ПСМТ), частота новых спинальных травм в разных странах варьируется от 10 до 83 случаев на миллион в год [3], а экономические потери государств исчисляются миллионами долларов [4,5].…”