title: [Emergencies at a hospital center and university in a tropical area. An anesthesiologist's point of view].
abstract: The purpose of this retrospective study was to determine the profile of medical emergencies and their management in a university hospital center in a tropical area. Between July 1 and December 31, 2001, all patients examined in a medical and surgical emergency room were included. Obstetrical emergencies, pediatric emergencies, emergencies admitted directly to the cardiology, ORL emergencies and urologic emergencies were not included. A total of 6740 patients were examined for medical/surgical emergencies during the 6-month study period. Mean patient age was 23 +/- 7 years. Most patients were male with a sex ratio of 3.4. Patients were from the city of Dakar in 50% of cases, suburbs of Dakar in 35% and other regions in 15%. The mean delay between the onset of emergency and admission was 17 +/- 9 hours. Patients were transferred to the hospital in 78% of cases by private transportation. Gastrointestinal events accounted for 20.23% of cases, cardiovascular events for 9.12%, respiratory events of 8.56%, metabolic events for 1.78%, trauma for 48.20% and infectious disease for 12.09%. Surgical mortality was 2.41%. Most problems facing the intensivist treating medical emergencies in a tropical setting involved resuscitation.
authors.affiliation: Département d'Anesthésie Réanimation, Hôpital Aristide Le Dantec, BP 15136 Dakar Fann, Sénégal. binetakasall@sentoo.sn
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ka Sall
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kane
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Diouf
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Beye
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006785:Hospitals, University / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012675:Senegal; D012744:Sex Ratio; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014330:Tropical Medicine; D014505:Urban Population