[Ano-rectal injuries in civilian practice in Cameroon. 10 case reports]

At the Central Hospital of Yaoundé, Cameroon, 10 ano-rectal injuries were treated over a period of 5 years. There were the same number of men and women and all patients were young (range: 7 to 35 years). The cause was illegal abortion in 2 cases and impalement following a fall from a tree in 3. The time lapse between injury and treatment was longer than 24 hours in 5 patients. In 2 cases the lesions were minor and simple debridement was possible. In the remaining 8 cases, construction of a colostomy was required using either the Hartmann terminal-type technique (n = 5) or the exclusion technique (n = 3). Three patients died: one from traumatic shock and two from septic shock. Complications were observed in 4 patients: 2 infections and 2 mechanical complications. Two patients presented permanent sequels including one with partial fecal incontinence. This study confirms the difficulty in management of ano-rectal injuries with limited facilities and reveals the variety of situations that can lead to these injuries especially in children in Africa.