Prevalence, Aetiologies and Outcome of Paediatric Medical Emergencies at the Buea and Limbe Regional Hospitals

Abstract

Background: Worldwide and particularly in Africa paediatric emergencies are a public health priority. Deaths in hospitals frequently occur within the early hours following admission. The aim of our study was to provide data on the prevalence, aetiologies and outcome of medical paediatric emergencies of children admitted at the emergency, paediatric and intensive care units of the Buea and Limbe Regional hospitals. Methodology: We carried out a hospital-based cross-sectional of patients aged 1 month to 15 years admitted at the emergency, paediatric and intensive care units of Buea and Limbe Regional Hospitals from January and March 2023 who had a medical pathology and at least one emergency sign according to the WHO ETAT (convulsion, coma, severe dehydration, respiratory distress, shock, severe anemia). Data was analyzed using Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 25. Results: A total of 294 children were enrolled out of 597 paediatric admissions giving a hospital prevalence of medical paediatric emergencies of 49.2%. The sex ratio was 1.4:1 with male predominance. The mean age was 2.7 years and 83% of the children were less than 5 years old. Almost half of the emergencies were convulsion (41.2%), respiratory distress and severe dehydration represented 32.3% and 30.3% respectively. Severe malaria accounted for 61.9% of the aetiologies. The death rate from paediatric medical emergencies was 9.9% and represented 69% of total paediatric deaths in both regional hospitals. Renal injury (p=0.014), severe community acquired pneumonia (p=0.026) and poisoning (p=0.027) were associated with mortality. Conclusion: Paediatric medical emergencies constitute a significant proportion of admissions; the most common emergency is convulsion and the main aetiology was severe malaria. Renal injury, poisoning and severe community acquired pneumonia were associated with mortality.