Geospatial mapping of patients presenting for Emergency Laparotomy to a Private Sector Tertiary Care Hospital in Pakistan.

Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted at Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, from July 1, 2015, to June 30, 2018, and comprised patients who underwent emergency laparotomy. Demographic characteristics of all patients were recorded. Google Maps was used to measure the distance from their home locality to the hospital. Results: Of the 259 patients, 184(71%) presented from within the city and 75(29%) were from outside. The overall mean age was 50±20.2 years. The most common diagnosis was bowel obstruction 121(46.7%) followed by bowel perforation 112(43.2%). Of the total, 25(9.7%) patients died The median distance travelled by patients from outside the city was significantly greater than for patients from within the city (p<0.001). Conclusion: Data on where patients are presenting from to an institution is critical for life-saving surgical procedures.

Frequency of ocular emergencies in a tertiary care setting in Karachi, Pakistan - It is time to reduce unnecessary visits.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the frequency of ocular emergencies received in a tertiary care setting.. METHODS: This retrospective clinical audit was undertaken at the Emergency Department of the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, and comprised data of all individuals who presented between January and October 2016. The department's triage database was used to retrieve the data on patient's age, gender, presenting complaints, time and date of presentation. Data was analyzed using SPSS 19. RESULTS: Of the 74729 individuals who presented, 928 (1.2%) presented with ocular complaints. The age range with the highest total number of visits was 0-9 years followed by 20-29 years. A significantly higher proportion of patients with eye complaints presented between 8am and 8pm on weekends (Sundays) compared with weekdays (p< 0.001). There was no significant association between gender and time of visit (p=0.592). The most commonly reported symptom was "eye injury" 368(39.7%). A significantly higher proportion of males presented with eye injury than females (p=0.043). . CONCLUSIONS: Ocular complaints accounted for a reasonable proportion of emergency visits, but many of the visits were unnecessary.