Division of Emergency Medicine, School of Clinical Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.
S Afr Fam Pract (2004). 2021 Oct 25;63(1):e1-e6. doi: 10.4102/safp.v63i1.5327.
Head injuries place a significant burden on the emergency department (ED) workload. This is prominent in low-middle income countries (LMICs), which have low resourced health systems and a skewed burden compared to global data. A large paucity of data exists among LMICs, therefore limiting comparisons on a global perspective. This study aimed to evaluate the ED burden of head injuries in a rural setting, within a LMIC.
A retrospective chart review of all ED patients presenting with head injuries was conducted over a 3-month period. Relevant data was extracted using a data collection tool, followed by descriptive statistical analysis.
A total of 263 patients were identified, with a median age of 27 years and male predominance (78.7%). Interpersonal violence (IPV) was the mechanism of injury in 59.7% (n = 157) of cases, followed by road traffic injuries (23.2%) and non-intentional trauma (17.1%). Most injuries were because of blunt trauma (71.1%) and common types were soft tissue (46.2%) and scalp injuries (35.0%). In the paediatric subgroup, the most common mechanism of injury was falls, accounting for 52.0% of all falls in the study. The majority (71.5%) of patients were discharged, while 22.8% were admitted and 2.67% demised in the ED.
At this rural centre, there is a high ED burden of minor head injuries because of IPV, with a strong male predominance. This study serves to add to limited reported data from a LMIC setting, which appears to have a skewed burden compared to the global data.
头部损伤给急诊科（ED）的工作量带来了巨大的负担。这在中低收入国家（LMICs）尤为明显，这些国家的卫生资源有限，与全球数据相比，负担分布不均。LMICs 中存在大量数据空白，因此限制了从全球角度进行比较。本研究旨在评估一个 LMIC 中农村地区 ED 头部损伤的负担。
对 3 个月期间所有因头部损伤到 ED 就诊的患者进行回顾性图表审查。使用数据收集工具提取相关数据，然后进行描述性统计分析。
共确定了 263 名患者，中位数年龄为 27 岁，男性居多（78.7%）。59.7%（n=157）的病例为人际暴力（IPV）损伤机制，其次是道路交通损伤（23.2%）和非故意伤害（17.1%）。大多数损伤是钝性创伤引起的（71.1%），常见类型为软组织（46.2%）和头皮损伤（35.0%）。在儿科亚组中，最常见的损伤机制是跌倒，占研究中所有跌倒的 52.0%。大多数（71.5%）患者出院，22.8%住院，2.67%在 ED 死亡。
在这个农村中心，由于 IPV，ED 有大量的轻微头部损伤负担，且男性居多。本研究补充了来自 LMIC 环境的有限报告数据，与全球数据相比，该数据似乎存在分布不均的情况。
