title: Epidemiology of paediatric trauma admissions at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Blantyre.
abstract: We conducted an audit of paediatric trauma admissions to QECH, Blantyre, in September 2003. There were 107 trauma cases representing 8.8% of all paediatric admissions and mean age was 6 years. The commonest cause of trauma was falls (42.9%) followed by burns (31.8%) and road traffic accidents (14.9%). Of the road traffic accidents, only one case was a passenger, the rest were pedestrians hit by moving vehicles. Fracture of limbs was the commonest injury sustained (44.9%) and burns the second commonest injury (31.8%). Most (52.6%) children were brought into hospital within 24 hours of injury while 26.3% came in between 24 hours and 48 hours and 21.1% after 48 hours or more. Death occurred in 7.5% of cases. The mean number of days in hospital was 8.9 days.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, College of Medicine.
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Ng'ambi
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, College of Medicine.
authors.forename: E S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Borgstein