The reflection of the Syrian civil war on the emergency department and assessment of hospital costs.
BACKGROUND
In the present study, it was aimed to assess the demographics, clinical features, and treatment costs of cases referred to our hospital after the Syrian civil war.


METHODS
Of 1355 Syrian civil war victims referred to our hospital during the 14-month period between June 2011 and July 2012, 482 cases presenting to the emergency department were included in the study. The electronic data of these patients were retrospectively analyzed.


RESULTS
Of 482 cases, 428 were male (88.8%) and 54 (11.2%) were female, with a mean age of 30.4±14.9 years (1-79 years). The mean age was 30.8±17.2 years (1-79 years) in males and 27.3±16.9 years (1.5-66 years) in females. There was a significant difference in terms of sex (p=0.007). It was found that the majority of the cases (41.1%) were aged 21-30 years. The highest number of admissions was recorded in June 2011 (159 patients, 33%), whereas the lowest number of admissions was in September 2011 (5 patients, 1%). All cases were transported to our hospital from nearby district hospitals and camps by emergency medical services. The most frequent presenting complaint was gunshot injury (338 cases, 70.1%). The most common diagnosis was extremity injury (153 cases, 31.7%). The number of forensic cases was found as 364 (75.5%). Of all the cases, 136 cases (28.2%) were managed in the emergency service, and the remaining cases were admitted to other services. They were most frequently admitted to the orthopedics ward (146 cases, 30.3%). The mean length of the hospital stay was 9.9 days (1-141).Overall, 456 cases (94.6%) were discharged, 22 cases died, and 4 cases were transferred to other facilities. The mean cost per case was estimated as 3723Turkish lira (TL) (15-69556). A positive correlation was found between cost and length of hospital stay.


CONCLUSIONS
Among all Syrian cases, the majorities of young males and gunshot injuries was striking. Most of the cases were discharged after appropriate management. Preventive measures can avoid these negative outcomes and so avoidable costs will not occur, and this can preclude the damage to the budgets of the countries.
Department of Emergency Medicine, Mustafa Kemal University Faculty of Medicine, Hatay, Turkey. drkarakus@yahoo.com.
Ali
A
Karakuş
Erhan
E
Yengil
Seçkin
S
Akkücük
Cengiz
C
Cevik
Cem
C
Zeren
Vedat
V
Uruc
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D017721:Hospital Costs; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013593:Syria / Q000453:epidemiology; D014857:Warfare; D014948:Wounds, Gunshot / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D055815:Young Adult