Paediatric Trauma Presentations in a Teaching Hospital in Lagos, Nigeria: Epidemiology and Predictor of Mortality

Paediatric trauma remains a major health challenge worldwide. It remains a major reason for hospitalization among children and adolescents around the world, with resultant death or disability. This study was aimed to determine the epidemiology, pattern and outcomes of paediatric injuries presenting at a teaching hospital in Lagos, South-west Nigeria.

This was a prospective observational hospital based study conducted on all paediatric trauma patients below 18 years, who presented at the accident and emergency room of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) over a period of thirteen months. Data analysis was done with Stata v13 (StataCorp. Texas. USA).

A total of 154 patients sustained 250 documented injuries. The mean age was 6.8 ± 4.6 years. Male to female ratio was 1.5:1. Children aged 8 years were mostly affected. There was significant statistical association between age of child at injury and the place of injury. (p = 0.021) Most injuries (51.3%) occurred at home followed by the road. Falls accounted for 72 cases (46.8%). Traumatic brain injury was the most common injury sustained. Injuries at home peaked at 5pm and extended to 7pm while injuries from road traffic accidents peaked at two periods; between 7am and 8am and 4pm. Paediatric trauma score predicted death accurately. The crude mortality rate was 5.8%.

Paediatric trauma scourge is still a health concern. School age children are mostly affected by trauma. Falls were the most common cause of trauma in children and most falls occurred in the home environment. Injuries from road traffic accidents accounted for majority of deaths. The paediatric trauma score predicts mortality in injured children and should be routinely used.