Mortality of Traumatic Injuries in Traumatological Emergencies of the Yalgado Ouedraogo University Hospital Center in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso)

Abstract

Background: Serious trauma is the main cause of death for people under 40 years old. According to the WHO, in 2002, nearly 1.2 million people died worldwide from road traffic injuries. The vast majority (90%) are from low and middle-income countries. The diagnostic performance, the quality of the treatments offered, and the optimization of trauma care channels, make it possible to improve the management of serious trauma. This is not always the case in our context of a country with limited resources. Objectives: The objective is o describe the epidemiological, diagnostic and therapeutic aspects of premortal death in patients with traumatic injuries. Methods: This was a descriptive study with retrospective collection in the trauma emergency department of Yalgado Ouedraogo Teaching Hospital (Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso). All patients who died on the ward while in the hospital or on arrival were included. Results: 192 deaths were listed. The annual mortality was 1.6%, the sex ratio was 6.1 and the average age was 36 years. Road traffic accidents were the main etiology: 163 deaths (85%). Head injuries were the most common injuries: 45.3% of deceased patients had a Glasgow score ≤ 8. There was no pre-hospital care in 63% of the patients who died. The first six hours, on-call periods and the weekend were correlated with the death rate. Discussion: the high mortality in road traffic accident injuries in Africa is due to the weakness of pre-hospital care, the non-medicalization of the transport of the injured and also the non-wearing of helmets by motorcyclists. The MGAP (Mechanism, Glasgow coma scale, Age, arterial Pressure) score is reliable in predicting the mortality of serious injuries.