Epidemiology and clinical profile of sports injuries treated in the Douala General and Laquintinie Hospitals, in Cameroon.

Objectives: To describe the epidemiological patterns and clinical characteristics of sports injuries treated at two hospitals in Douala. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted at the Douala General Hospital and Douala Laquintinie Hospital, involving medical records of patients treated for sports injuries from January 2012 to April 2022. Data extracted from records were entered into a data collection software and analysed using Microsoft Excel 2016. Severe injuries were defined as an injury score greater than or equal to 3 on the Abbreviated Injury Scale. Results: The prevalence of sports injuries was 1.12% among all trauma cases. There was a male predominance with 62 (86.1%) males and 10 (13.9%) females. The mean age was 24.97±13.8 years. Most injured persons were students 35 (48.6%), followed by the employed 26 (36.1%), athletes 6 (8.3%) and the unemployed 5 (6.9%). Recreational sports accounted for 43 (59.7%) injuries while 16 (22.2%) injuries occurred during physical education, 8 (11.1%) during trainings and 5 (6.9%) during competitions. Football injuries were 48 (66.7%), running injuries 10 (13.9%) and 9 (12.5%) occurred during long, high and triple jump. Among all injuries, fractures were 43 (59.7%), 11 (15.3%) joint sprains, 5 (6.9%) muscle injuries, 4 (5.6%) brain injuries while 9 (12.5%) were contusions and lacerations. Lower extremity injuries were 34 (47.2%), 21 (29.2%) injuries were on the upper extremities, 4 (5.6%) abdominopelvic, 3 (4.2%) thoracic injuries, 9 (12.5%) head injuries and 1 (1.4%) on the neck. Overall, 53 (73.7%) were severe injuries. Conclusion: The majority of sports injuries treated in these hospitals are fractures that occur during recreational sports, particularly football and predominantly involve the lower extremity. A significant proportion are severe injuries.

Neglected simultaneous bilateral asymmetric traumatic hip dislocation in a young male managed by closed reduction manoeuvres in a resource-limited setting: A case report.

Background: Asymmetric bilateral hip dislocations are rare, representing approximately 0.01 %-0.02 % of all joint dislocations. The treatment of neglected hip dislocations is difficult or impossible by closed reduction manoeuvres. This is a report of an unusual clinical entity of neglected simultaneous bilateral asymmetric traumatic hip dislocations in a young male, managed by closed reduction manoeuvres. Case presentation: This is the case of a 29-years-old male who presented with neglected simultaneous bilateral asymmetric traumatic hip dislocations 5 weeks post injury. His condition was managed by closed reduction manoeuvres due to financial constraints. Under spinal anaesthesia, the left hip was successfully reduced. Due to an associated posterior acetabular wall fracture, the presence of osteo-chondral fragments and labral lesions, adequate reduction of the right hip was not achieved. The functional Harris Hip Score (HHS) of the left hip improved on every subsequent follow-up visits at the clinic from 70 at day 45 to 86 at day 90. The HHS of the right hip was poor at day 45 but however increased to 90 after total hip replacement was done. Conclusions: This is an unusual case of neglected simultaneous bilateral asymmetric traumatic hip dislocations in a young male, managed by closed reduction manoeuvres. Closed reduction of such injury is difficult and seldom successful with uncertain long term functional outcome.