Browsing by Author "Elichilia, James N."

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    Patterns, clinical profile and early treatment outcome of abdominal trauma among patients admitted at the University of Dodoma affiliated teaching hospitals
    (The University of Dodoma, 2023) Elichilia, James N.
    Background: The majority of cases of abdominal trauma are encountered in polytrauma patients, and the presence of extra-abdominal injuries, particularly traumatic brain injuries, has the greatest impact on outcomes, primarily morbidity and mortality. Injury mechanisms can be either blunt or penetrating. Some would necessitate surgical intervention, but others could be treated conservatively. Objective: To determine the patterns, clinical profile, and early treatment outcomes of abdominal trauma among patients attended at the University of Dodoma affiliated teaching hospitals. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective hospital based longitudinal study of all patients with abdominal trauma admitted at UDOM affiliated teaching hospitals between October 2022 and June 2023. Data were collected by using a predesigned questionnaire and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. Factors with p-value <0.05 were considered statistically significant. Factors with p-value <0.2 or <0.25 were subjected to regression analysis to measure the association between independent and dependent variables. Results: During the study period, 111 patients were assessed. There were 94 men (84.7%) and 17 women (15.3%), and male-female ratio was 5.5:1. with a mean age of 30.69±14.88years, and the most (31.5%) affected age group was 21 to 30 years. The most common types of injury were blunt abdominal trauma in 79 patients (71.2%), and road traffic accident (46.8%) was the leading cause of injury. Most patients (85.6%) required an exploratory laparotomy, where the spleen was the most affected organ (53.3%). The mean length of hospitalization was 6.31±6.85 days with a median duration of 4 days. The mortality was observed in 18(16.2%) of cases and the majority (91%) were discharged as were doing well. Conclusion: Blunt abdominal trauma was the most common type (71.2%) and patients with young age 21 to 30 were the most prevalent (31.5%), males were predominant. The spleen (53.3%) were the most commonly affected organs. The mortality rate in the study was observed in 16.2%.