Postoperative Hemoglobin Drop and the Associated Factors among Elective Orthopedic Surgeries in Northern Tanzania.

Background: Having an estimated level of Hb drop in different orthopedic surgeries would help plan for surgery from pre- to postoperative periods. The aim of this study was to assess the Hb drop and the associated factors during the intraoperative period among elective orthopedic surgeries. Methods: This was an analytic cross-sectional study conducted between October 2022 and March 2023, which included all patients admitted for elective orthopedic surgery who met the inclusion criteria. Data were collected before and after the patient was operated on. Information was analyzed using t-tests and ANOVA to establish the statistical significance of the Hb drop. Results: A total of 195 participants were enrolled. The majority of the participants were male (62.1%), with the main etiology of symptoms being motor traffic accidents (31.8%). The most affected site was the femur (36.4%), followed by the spine (23.6%). The highest mean Hb drop was in total hip replacement surgeries (4.19 g/dL), with the overall mean Hb drop being 2.75 g/dL. A statistically significant difference was identified in diathermy use, duration of surgery, and patients with chronic illnesses. Conclusion: With a mean Hb drop of 2.75 g/dL, the application of diathermy and surgeries with shorter durations resulted in a reduced Hb drop. These factors should be incorporated to minimize the drop in Hb in orthopedic surgeries. Accounting for differences in surgeries, there should not be delays in patients who have a preoperative Hb level that can sustain the mean Hb drop recorded in the study.

HIV positive patient with bilateral osteonecrosis of the femoral head, a case report.

INTRODUCTION AND IMPORTANCE: Avascular necrosis (AVN), also known as osteonecrosis, refers to the death of bone tissue due to the lack of blood supply. Osteonecrosis in HIV can be a complication of the ART's or the disease itself. CLINICAL PRESENTATION: 47 years old male, HIV positive for 10 years on Antiretroviral-therapy had gradual onset of bilateral hip pain for 6 months, progressively and sharp in nature, aggravated by movement and relieved by resting with reduced range of movement, wheel chair dependent 2 months. No history of fever, cough, night sweats or weight loss. No history of trauma, steroid use or hormonal therapy and no history of alcohol intake. On Examination he had bilateral inguinal and hip tenderness, pain on movement, with reduced flexion and extension of the hip. His viral-load was 27copies/ml of blood. Complete blood count was unremarkable. Serum lipid panel had no evidence of hypertriglyceridemia. He was diagnosed with bilateral femoral heads Avascular-necrosis. Bilateral ceramic with polyethylene liner uncemented total hip arthroplasty was done. No complications observed, in 6 months of follow up he had Harris hip score of 90 and he had returned to his activities without hip pain complaints/complications. DISCUSSION: The management of AVN is usually total hip arthroplasty, but other surgical treatment includes, hemiarthroplasty, core-decompression and girdle stone arthroplasty, the latter has poor outcomes in-terms of quality of life. CONCLUSION: Understanding causes and mechanism of AVN is crucial for effective management and treatment, particularly when addressing cases such as in our patient with HIV induced osteonecrosis of both femoral heads, surgical treatment should aid on relieving pain and improving patient's quality of life.

Thoracolumbar junction translation injury in a patient with ankylosing spondylitis, a case report.

INTRODUCTION: The thoracic spine is stable because of kyphotic alignment, rib cage, and costovertebral joints. Any compression or kyphosis in the thoracic spine always causes spinal cord injury. CLINICAL CASE: A 47-year-old male with complaints of back pain 1 day prior to admission, after he sustained a motorbike crush and landed on his back. The pain, radiates to both limbs, associated with severe spasms, numbness, and weakness in his lower extremities, however no incontinence. No other associated injuries were reported. 25 years ago he had a history of tuberculosis of the spine with progressive deformity of the back, he was treated medically without surgery. On examinations: Gibbus at T11-L1, with hyper-pigmented post-inflammatory skin and an easily palpable spine, power 1/5 right and 2/5 left lower limbs, Sensation and bulbocarvenosus reflex were intact. Upper limbs were neurologically intact. All laboratory investigations including FBP, ESR, Electrolytes, renal and liver function tests were all within normal range. After radiological imaging, a final diagnosis of Spinal Cord Injury, ASIA C. AO classification type T12-L1:C/T9-L1:A4/N3/M2 was made. He was kept on a thoracolumbar corset 6 weeks after being initiated on spine protocol. He was discharged 8 weeks this time patient had no back pain but no improvement was noted neurologically. After a year of thoracolumbar corset and physiotherapy, he reported no more back pain, no numbness to lower limbs, and power 3/5 right and 4/5 left lower limbs, with intact sensation. However, no changes were observed radiologically. CLINICAL DISCUSSION: Due to the instability of fracture-dislocation, surgical treatment is recommended to realign the spine but for this case with back deformity and fractured vertebra bodies, it is best not to temper with reduction and fixation as it would further worsen the neurological deficit of the patient, during maneuvers while doing the reduction. CONCLUSION: Fracture-dislocation of the thoracic spine can impact the physical and mental well-being of the patients. Surgical fixation and instrumentation are ideal but in cases where surgical intervention would further impair the neurological function of the patient conservative management is the goal.

Psychosocial health of patients receiving orthopaedic treatment in northern Tanzania: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Patients with musculoskeletal injuries in Sub-Saharan Africa often receive prolonged inpatient treatment due to limited access to surgical care. Little is known regarding the psychosocial impact of prolonged conservative treatment for orthopaedic injuries, which may add to disability and preclude rehabilitation. METHODS: A cross-sectional, questionnaire study was conducted to characterize the psychosocial health of orthopaedic inpatients at a tertiary hospital in Moshi, Tanzania. Three validated surveys assessing coping strategies, functional social support, and symptoms of depression were orally administered to all orthopaedic patients with a length of stay (LOS) ≥ 6 days by a Tanzanian orthopaedic specialist. RESULTS: Fifty-nine patient surveys were completed, and revealed 92% (54) of patients were more likely to utilize more adaptive than maladaptive coping strategies. Patients with chest or spinal column injuries were more likely to use maladaptive coping strategies (p = 0·027). Patients with head injuries had more social support compared to others (p = 0·009). Lack of insurance, limited education, and rural origins were associated with less functional social support, although this finding did not reach statistical significance. 23·7% (14) of patients had symptoms consistent with mild depression, 33·9% (20) with moderate depression, and 3·4% (2) with moderately-severe depression. LOS was the only significant predictor for depression severity. CONCLUSIONS: 61% (36) of orthopaedic inpatients exhibited depressive symptoms, indicating that the psychosocial health in this population is sub-optimal. Mental health is a crucial element of successful orthopaedic care. Access to timely surgical care would greatly decrease LOS, the most prominent predictor of depressive symptom severity.

Primary Bone Tumors in Children and Adolescents Treated at a Referral Center in Northern Tanzania.

Bone tumors account for a small fraction of childhood cancers. Most published reports are from developed countries. The purpose of this study was to review the primary bone tumors in children and adolescents treated at a referral center in Northern Tanzania. We completed a 10-year hospital-based cross-sectional study in which all patients younger than 20 years diagnosed with a primary bone tumor at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center Orthopaedic Department from January 2006 to December 2015 were identified and reviewed. Of the 80 identified patients, 15 (18.8%) were aged 5 to 8 years, and 65 (81%) were aged 9 to 19 years. Forty-seven males (59%) and 33 females (41%) were identified. The most common tumor locations were the femur, tibia, and humerus. Osteosarcoma was the most common malignant diagnosis (49 patients, 61%). No cases of Ewing sarcoma were reported. The most common tribal origins of the patients were Chagga and Maasai. Most primary bone tumors treated at a referral center in Northern Tanzania are malignant, with osteosarcoma representing the vast majority. No cases of Ewing sarcoma were identified in this tertiary referral hospital-based database.

Access to Orthopaedic Surgical Care in Northern Tanzania: A Modelling Study.

BACKGROUND: The global burden of musculoskeletal disease and resulting disability is enormous and is expected to increase over the next few decades. In the world's poorest regions, the paucity of information defining and quantifying the current state of access to orthopaedic surgical care is a major problem in developing effective solutions. This study estimates the number of individuals in Northern Tanzania without adequate access to orthopaedic surgical services. METHODS: A chance tree was created to model the probability of access to orthopaedic surgical services in the Northern Tanzanian regions of Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Tanga, Singida, and Manyara, with respect to four dimensions: timeliness, surgical capacity, safety, and affordability. Timeliness was estimated by the proportion of people living within a 4-h driving distance from a hospital with an orthopaedic surgeon, capacity by comparing number of surgeries performed to the number of surgeries indicated, safety by applying WHO Emergency and Essential Surgical Care infrastructure and equipment checklists, and affordability by approximating the proportion of the population protected from catastrophic out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure. We accounted for uncertainty in our model with one-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses. Data sources included the Tanzanian National Bureau of Statistics and Ministry of Finance, World Bank, World Health Organization, New Zealand Ministry of Health, Google Corporation, NASA population estimator, and 2015 hospital records from Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center, Machame Hospital, Nkoroanga Hospital, Mt. Meru Hospital, and Arusha Lutheran Medical Center. RESULTS: Under the most conservative assumptions, more than 90% of the Northern Tanzanian population does not have access to orthopaedic surgical services. CONCLUSION: There is a near absence of access to orthopaedic surgical care in Northern Tanzania. These findings utilize more precise country and region-specific data and are consistent with prior published global trends regarding surgical access in Sub-Saharan Africa. As the global health community must develop innovative solutions to address the rising burden of musculoskeletal disease and support the advancement of universal health coverage, increasing access to orthopaedic surgical services will play a central role in improving health care in the world's developing regions.

The characteristics of traumatic spinal cord injuries at a referral hospital in Northern Tanzania.

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective study. OBJECTIVES: To describe the epidemiology of traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) in Northern Tanzania. SETTING: Main referral hospital for Northern Tanzania. METHODS: A retrospective review of 125 TSCI cases admitted to Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) over a period of 5 years. RESULTS: We included 125 patients in the sample size, with a male majority of 107 (85.6%), giving a male-to-female ratio of 5.9:1. The mean age at injury was 39.9 (±16.0) years. Overall, 66 (52.8%) were farmers and an overwhelming majority (109 (87.2%)) were referrals from peripheral medical centres. Fall injuries accounted for 65 (52.0%) of the admissions and 49 (39.2%) were injured due to a Road Traffic Accident (RTA). Severity of injury was classified according to the American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale (AIS) and 57 (45.6%) injuries were categorised as AIS A and 68 (54.4%) as AIS BCD. Cervical level injuries (59 (47.2%)) were the most frequent among the cohort. The in-hospital mortality rate was 24.1%. CONCLUSION: The majority of patients affected by TSCIs were young males and the most common cause was fall injuries. Cervical level injuries were the most common and in-hospital mortality was high.

The epidemiology and management of tibia and fibula fractures at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) in Northern Tanzania.

INTRODUCTION: Tibia/fibula fractures are one of the commonest admissions to the orthopaedic department at a resource-limited Northern Tanzanian hospital. These fractures are associated with poor prognosis and pose a huge socioeconomic burden on developing countries. However, to date there is a paucity of epidemiological data on lower-limb fractures in Tanzania. METHODS: A retrospective review of admissions to the orthopaedic department at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) was completed between February 2015 and 2016. Inpatient record books were used to source epidemiological data which was subsequently analysed. RESULTS: 199 of the 1016 patients admitted sustained tibia/fibula fractures. 78% (n=156) of admissions were male and the most frequently affected age group was 21-30 years. Motor traffic accidents (MTAs) were the most common cause and accounted for 78% of fractures, with nearly half of these involving motorbikes (42%). Falls were identified as the second most common cause (13%). It was determined that 72% (n=143) of fractures were open, 19% (n=38) were comminuted and the most common site of injury was the distal-third of tibia/fibula. The most frequently recorded treatments were surgical toilet/debridement (66% of patients) and the application of a backslab (34% of patients). CONCLUSION: Males in the 21-30 age group, who were involved in MTAs, were most commonly affected by tibia/fibula fractures. Given that MTA incidence is increasing in Tanzania, there is a growing public health concern that this will be reflected by a step-increase in the number of people who sustain lower-limb fractures.

The epidemiology and treatment of femur fractures at a northern Tanzanian referral centre.

INTRODUCTION: Femoral fractures are the most common presenting injury at the orthopaedic department in a large Tanzanian hospital. To date, there has been no current examination of the epidemiology of femoral fractures and the disease burden has not been quantified. METHODS: A retrospective descriptive study of patient records in the orthopaedic department at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) was performed. Patient demographics, aetiology of fractures, diagnosis and treatment were all recorded. RESULTS: A total of 540 consecutive patient admission records were reviewed over a 9 month period. Of these 540 cases, 213 (39%) were diagnosed with a femoral fracture. The 21-30 age group were the most commonly affected by femur fractures (20% n = 42). Within this group, motor traffic accidents (MTA) were the cause of 71% of injuries (n = 30). For males, MTA's caused 59% of all femur fractures (n = 80), while falls were the most common cause of femur fractures in females (70%; n = 49). 80% of the fractures in the 51-100 age group were caused by falls (n = 52). In both the male and female groups the most common fracture seen was mid shaft femoral fracture (males 33% (n = 48), females 25% (n = 18)). The most common treatment was skeletal traction used in 40% (n = 85) of patients. CONCLUSION: Femur fracture most commonly presented in males under age 30. Femur fracture was most commonly cause by MTAs in males and by falls in females. The most common diagnosis was mid shaft of femur fracture. Skeletal traction was the most frequent treatment.