The impact of the increasing burden of trauma in Malawi on orthopedic trauma service priorities at Kamuzu Central Hospital

摘要

Background and purpose — The burden of road traffic injuries globally is rising rapidly, and has a huge effect on health systems and development in low- and middle-income countries. Malawi is a small low-income country in southeastern Africa with a population of 16.7 million and a gross national income per capita of only 250 USD. The impact of the rising burden of trauma is very apparent to healthcare workers on the ground, but there are very few data showing this development.Patients and methods — The annual number of femoral fracture patients admitted to Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) in the Capital of Malawi, Lilongwe, from 2009 to 2014 was retrieved from the KCH trauma database. Linear regression curve estimation was used to project the growth in the burden of femoral fractures and the number of operations performed for femoral fractures over the same time period.Results — 992 patients with femoral fractures (26% of all admissions for fractures) presented at KCH from 2009 through 2014. In this period, ...