@article{ref1,
title="Pediatric abdominal trauma in a national referral hospital",
journal="African health sciences",
year="2022",
author="Nimanya, Stella Alice and Sekabira, John and Kakembo, Nasser and Kisa, Phyllis and Massenga, Alicia and Naluyimbazi, Rovine and Oyania, Felix and Okello, Innocent",
volume="22",
number="Spec Issue",
pages="108-113",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Trauma is a major contributor to pediatric morbidity and mortality. Injury and violence are a major killer of children throughout the world. Unintentional injuries account for almost 90% of these cases. They are the leading cause of death for children aged 10-19 years. More than 95% of all injury deaths in children occur in low income and middle-income countries. Abdominal trauma is present in approximately 25% of pediatric patients with major trauma and is the most common cause of unrecognized fatal injury in children. <br><br>OBJECTIVES: To describe the patterns, the management and outcomes of pediatric abdominal trauma.This was a descriptive retrospective study. Data was extracted from the Pediatric surgery Unit database from January 2012 to July 2019 on all abdominal trauma admissions to the unit. <br><br>RESULTS: Falls were the commonest (51.3%) mechanism for trauma on the unit. Most (84%) of the admissions had blunt abdominal trauma, with the majority (77%) managed non operatively. Only 16% had penetrating trauma, with the majority (84%) of these managed operatively. The average length of hospital stay for most (71.9%) of the patients was less than 7 days, with 96.1% of all admitted patients being discharged upon recovery. <br><br>CONCLUSION: Blunt abdominal trauma is the most common pattern of pediatric abdominal trauma, with majority of these patients being managed non-operatively with good outcomes. Selective non-operative management for penetrating pediatric abdominal trauma has good patient outcomes as well.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1680-6905",
doi="10.4314/ahs.v22i2.16S",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ahs.v22i2.16S"
}