TITLE:
Epidemiological Profile of Pediatric Vital Emergencies at Laquintinie Hospital of Douala, Cameroon
AUTHORS:
Penda Calixte Ida, Endalè Mangamba Mireille-Laurent, Samè Bebey Francine, Maledje Kamgang Kiliane Lariale, Eposse Ekoubè Charlotte, Eyoum Bilè Bertrand, Kedy Koum Danièle
KEYWORDS:
Vital Emergencies, Pediatrics, Douala Laquintinie Hospital, Cameroon
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Pediatrics,
Vol.11 No.1,
March
31,
2021
ABSTRACT: Introduction: In the absence of health coverage in resource
limited-settings, life-saving pediatric
emergencies remain a challenge. The objective of our study was to describe the epidemiological profile of
life-threatening pediatric emergencies at Laquintinie Hospital in Douala
(HLD). Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out for a
period of 3 months, from March to May 2017 in the pediatric emergency unit of
HLD enrolling all children presenting a life-threatening emergency on
admission. Local emergency kits and an internal deferred cost recovery voucher or “green voucher” were used to
facilitate access to care for children on admission. The
socio-demographic, clinical, therapeutic and evolutionary characteristics were
collected and analyzed using SPSS software version 20.0. Results: A total of 135 children were enrolled and the sex
ratio was 1.54. The mean age was 3.8 years ± 4.05 and 80.7% of the children were
under 5 years old. The majority of children (82.9%) admitted to the
emergency room came from peripheral health structures. The hospital prevalence
of life-saving emergencies was 42.4%. The mean time to consultation after the
onset of symptoms was 5.9 days and 66.0% of admissions were made during the 3 p.m. to 8 a.m. time slot. More than
4/5 of emergencies were neurological,
respiratory and cardio-circulatory emergencies representing 35.6% and 18.5% respectively. Severe malaria accounted
31.9% of the etiologies, bronchopneumopathies
and meningo-encephalitis were involved in 18.5% and 17.8% of cases
respectively. Patients were managed within 30 minutes of admission in 75.6% of cases and 52.6% of them
received a “green voucher”. The
average length of stay in the emergency room was 6 days. The death rate from
life-threatening emergencies was 17.8% and represented 61.5% of total deaths recorded in pediatric emergencies. Conclusion: The
profile of life-threatening emergencies at the HLD was that of
a child under 5 years old, coming from a peripheral health facility and presenting
a neurological emergency.