Pattern of admission, outcome and predictors of trauma patients visiting the surgical emergency department in comprehensive specialized hospital: a retrospective follow-up study.

Background: Traumatic injuries represent a huge burden in the developing world, and a significant proportion has found in low-income and middle-income countries. However, the pattern, outcome and factors of injury varies from setup to setup and is less studied in public health problems. Objective: To assess pattern of admission, outcome and its predictors among trauma patients visiting the surgical emergency department in a comprehensive specialized hospital. Methods: A retrospective follow-up study was conducted, and data were taken from the medical records of patients from 2019 to 2021. A simple random sampling technique was used to get a sample size of 386 from injured patient charts. Data were entered into Epi-Data version 4.6 software and exported to STATA version 14.1 for analysis. The dependent variable was injured patient's outcome, which could be died or not died. The independent variables with P value less than 0.25 in the bi-variable regression analysis were considered for the multivariable regression. Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with the 95% CI were used to declare statistical significance. Result: About 13.99% of injured patients with (95% CI: 10, 17) had died during the study period. The leading cause of injury was assault (62.44%) followed by road traffic accidents (26.17%). Severe Glasgow Coma Scale (AOR 6.6; 95% CI: 2.6-16.4), length of hospital stay more than or equal to 7 days (AOR=2.8; 95% CI: 1.2-6.2), time of arrival in between 1 and 24 h (AOR=0.15; 95% CI: 0.06-0.37), and upper trunk injury (AOR=6.3; 95% CI: 1.3-28.5) were significantly associated with mortality. Conclusion and recommendation: Mortality after traumatic injury was considerably high. Severe Glasgow Coma Scale, Length of hospital stay more than or equal to 7 days, time of arrival in between 1 and 24 h, and upper trunk injury were the associated factors for mortality. Priority should be given for injured patients with decreased levels of consciousness and upper trunk injury. The establishment of organized pre-hospital emergency services and provision of timely arrival is recommended. The authors recommend prospective follow-up study.

High incidence rate of postoperative sore throat in intubated children at Northwest Amhara Comprehensive Specialized Hospitals, Ethiopia. A multicenter study.

Background: Postoperative sore throat is the most frequent complication in pediatric patients after general anesthesia. This study aimed to investigate the incidence of postoperative sore throat in patients undergoing general anesthesia with tracheal intubation or laryngeal mask airway. Methods: A hospital-based multicenter prospective observational cohort study was conducted. Proportional allocation was done with a total of 424 patients from March 1 to June 30, 2022. The information was entered into the Epi-Data software version 4.6 and analyzed with Stata 14. Socio-demographic, surgical, and anesthetic-related characteristics were analyzed using descriptive statistics. A p-value of less than 0.2 was the cutpoint of bivariate logistic regression analysis, and p-values of less than 0.05 were regarded as statistically significant in multivariate logistic regression to determine the presence and strength of association between independent variables and postoperative sore throat. Results: A total of 411 patients were included in this study, with a response rate of 96.9%. The overall proportion of patients who developed postoperative sore throat was 45% (95% CI: 40.18-49.84). Patients who had anesthesia for more than two hours (AOR = 8.23: 95% CI = 4.08-16.5), those who were intubated by undergraduate anesthesia students (AOR = 2.67: 95% CI = 1.53-4.67), and those who had been intubated using tracheal tube (AOR = 2.38: 95% CI = 1.15-4.92) were significantly associated with the level of postoperative sore throat. Conclusions and recommendations: We concluded that intubated children with ETT have a high incidence of post-operative sore throat. Tracheal tube usage, intubation by undergraduate students, and more than two hours of anesthesia duration were associated factors. The incidence of sore throat can be decreased with the use of a laryngeal mask airway, intubation by a senior anesthetist, and shortening of anesthesia time.

Breakthrough pain among cancer patients at oncology units in Northern Ethiopia; a multi-center study.

Background: Breakthrough cancer pain (BTCP) is a transient exacerbation of pain that affects the length of hospitalization and quality of life of patients. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and factors associated with BTCP among cancer patients at oncology units in Northern Ethiopia in 2022. Methods: A multi-center cross-sectional study was conducted from April to June 2022. After obtaining ethical approval, data were collected prospectively from 424 adult cancer patients admitted to oncology units. Breakthrough cancer pain was assessed by the numeric rating scale. Descriptive and binary logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the factors associated with BTCP. The strength of association was described in adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with 95% confidence intervals and variables with a P-value < 0.05 were considered to have a statistically significant association with BTCP. Result: The prevalence of BTCP among cancer patients was 41.5%. The factors that were found to be associated with BTCP were colorectal cancer (AOR: 7.7, 95% CI: 1.8, 32.3), lung cancer (AOR: 6.9, 95% CI: 1.9, 26.0), metastasis (AOR: 9.3, 95% CI: 3.0, 29.1), mild background pain (AOR: 7.5, 95% CI: 2.5, 22.6), moderate background pain (AOR: 7.0, 95% CI: 2.2, 23.1), severe background pain (AOR: 7.1, 95% CI: 2.2, 22.8), no analgesics taken for background pain (AOR: 5.1, 95% CI: 2.8, 9.3) and uncontrolled background pain (AOR: 3.3, 95% CI: 1.8, 6.1). Conclusion: The prevalence of BTCP was high. Colorectal cancer, lung cancer, the presence of metastasis, the presence of background pain, not taking analgesics for background pain, and uncontrolled background pain were significantly associated with BTCP.

Incidence and risk factors of emergence delirium in elderly patients after general or spinal anesthesia for both elective and emergency surgery.

Background: Emergence delirium is a poorly understood incident in elderly patients in PACU. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of emergence delirium and its predictors in elderly patients after general or spinal anesthesia for both elective and emergency surgery. Methods: In this prospective observational study, 172 consecutive patients were included. The study was performed in the post-anesthesia care unit for three months in 2020. We included elderly patients in both elective and emergency surgery. Patient interviews, chart reviews, and direct observation were among the data collection methods. The Nursing Delirium Screening Scale was the assessment tool. The outcome variable and independent variables' association was determined by bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: The incidence of emergence delirium at the post-anesthesia care unit was 40.7% (95% CI = 32-48).Postoperative pain (AOR = 3.9:95%CI = 1.13-13.60), preoperative anxiety (AOR = 7:95% CI = 1.76-28.55), perioperative narcotics (AOR = 5.1:95% CI = 1.27-20.57) and excessive blood loss (AOR = 6.5:95% CI = 2.47-17.02) were predictors of emergence delirium. Conclusions: Delirium in the post-anesthesia care unit is common. Anxiety, perioperative narcotics, and intraoperative blood loss were predictors of emergence delirium.

Prevalence and factors associated with preoperative anemia among adult patients scheduled for major elective surgery at University hospital in Northwest Ethiopia; a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Anemia is the most common hematological finding in surgical patients. One-third of surgical patients were anemic during preoperative assessment. The presence of preoperative anemia was found to be related with increased morbidity, mortality, length of hospital stay, intensive care unit admissions and postoperative infections. OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence and factors associated with preoperative anemia among adult patients scheduled for major elective surgery at University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia, 2020. METHODS: After obtaining an ethical approval, hospital-based cross-sectional quantitative study was conducted from June to August 2020 in University of Gondar Hospital. Full blood count within two weeks of preoperative period was considered valid if there were no any factors that affect the hematologic system Descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations and binary logistic regression analysis were performed to identify factors associated withpreoperative anemia. The strength of the association was presented using AOR with 95% confidence interval and p-value < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. RESULT: A total of 185 patients enrolled with 100% response rate. We observed preoperative anemia in 36.8% patients. The multi-variable binary logistic analysis showed that ASA II and III [AOR: 3.8, CI: 1.6-9.2], recent prior surgery [AOR: 3.3, CI: 1.3-8.5], history of malignancy [AOR: 9.4, CI: 2.0-43.4], orthopedic procedure [AOR: 11.2, CI: 4.0-31.6] and gynecologic procedure [AOR: 5.2, CI: 1.7-14.5] were significantly associated with preoperative anemia. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of preoperative anemia was high and ASA ≥2, recent prior surgery, history of malignancy, orthopedic surgery and gynecologic procedure were significantly associated with preoperative anemia. We recommend to clinicians to aim prevention, early detection and treatment of preoperative anemia among adult patients scheduled for major elective surgery to reduce risk of anemia and related adverse outcomes.

Withdrawn: Incidence and Risk Factors of Emergence Delirium after Anesthesia in Elderly Patients at a Postanesthesia Care Unit in Ethiopia: Prospective Observational Study.

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Assessment of Acute Pain Management and Associated Factors among Emergency Surgical Patients in Gondar University Specialized Hospital Emergency Department, Northwest Ethiopia, 2018: Institutional Based Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: Adequate pain management has led to increased comfort in emergency patients, reducing morbidity and improving long term outcomes. Different pain management modalities have been applied in the emergency department among which systemic analgesia is commonly used by preceding a nerve block. Several factors have been associated with poor pain management in low resource setting areas. We aimed to determine pain management modalities and associated factors among emergency surgical patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: After obtaining ethical approval from Ethical Review Committee, 203 volunteer patients were enrolled. Institutional based cross-sectional prospective study was conducted from April to May 2018 in Gondar University Specialized Hospital Emergency Department. The severity of pain was measured through Numerical Rating Scale and statistical analysis was performed using SPSS statistical package version 23. Descriptive statistics cross-tab and binary logistics were performed to identify factors related to pain management in emergency department. RESULTS: A total of 203 patients, 138 (68%) males and 65 (32%) females with response rate of 94%, participated in this study. Among them, 66% patients received analgesia within two hours of ED presentation with a mean ± SD of 61.0 ± 34.1 minutes. 70.4 % of patients complained of moderate and severe pain after receiving analgesia. There was a significant difference between trauma and nontrauma patients in mean time of analgesia receiving and residual pain severity (p < 0.001). Age, trauma, physician pain assessment, and severity of pain were the predicting factors for analgesia delivery. CONCLUSION: The overall practice of pain management in Gondar University Specialized Hospital Emergency Department was not adequate. Therefore, it is vital to implement an objective pain assessment method and documentation of the pain severity to improve pain management practice.