Author(s)

Aliou Thiongane^1*, Aliou Abdoulaye Ndongo², Amadou Sow³, Younoussa Keita², Djibril Boiro³, Yaye Joor Dieng¹, Idrissa Basse⁴, Ndiogou Seck⁵, Lisimo Abwa Hilaire¹, Papa Moctar Faye¹, Amadou Lamine Fall¹, Assane Sylla², Saliou Diouf⁶, Ousmane Ndiaye¹

¹Centre Hospitalier National d’Enfants Albert Royer, Dakar, Sénégal.
²Service de pédiatrie Hôpital Le Dantec, Dakar, Sénégal.
³Service de pédiatrie Hôpital Abass ndao, Dakar, Sénégal.
⁴Centre Hospitalier National d’Enfants de Diamniadio, Dakar, Sénégal.
⁵Service de pédiatrie Hôpital régional, Saint Louis, Sénégal.
⁶Service de pédiatrie Hôpital Dalal Jamm, Dakar, Sénégal.

Background: Pediatric emergencies are a public health priority in Senegal. The objective was to describe the epidemiology of admissions to the emergency department of the Albert Royer National Children’s Hospital in Dakar, Senegal. Methods: Prospective, descriptive and analytical study over a period of 4 months (January-April 2020). The study population was children admitted for vital distress. Results: A total of 300 children met the inclusion criteria and represented the study population (2.83%). The majority (70.67%) were younger than 60 months, compared with 2.00% of newborns. Boys represented 53.8%, sex ratio 1.16. A proportion of 35.1% was referred. More than half of our patients (55.88%) were managed within 30 minutes of arrival. Medicalized transport concerned 21.5% against 78.5% of nonmedicalized. Emergencies were dominated by respiratory distress (56.33%), dehydration (29%) and shock (13.33%). We recorded 16 deaths (5.3%). This mortality was significantly related to the low socio-economic level (p = 0.000), as well as the young age of the children (p = 0.01). Conclusion: Life-threatening emergencies are frequent and responsible for significant lethality. Health policy efforts are still needed to reduce this infant and child morbidity and mortality.

Children, Emergencies, Morbidity, Mortality

Thiongane, A. , Ndongo, A. , Sow, A. , Keita, Y. , Boiro, D. , Dieng, Y. , Basse, I. , Seck, N. , Hilaire, L. , Faye, P. , Fall, A. , Sylla, A. , Diouf, S. and Ndiaye, O. (2022) Epidemiology of Admissions in a Pediatric Emergency Department in Albert Royer Hospital Dakar. Open Journal of Pediatrics, 12, 188-195. doi: 10.4236/ojped.2022.121020.