ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Mortality among emergency paediatric admissions within the first 24 hours is high in resource- poor nations. Measures to reduce the childhood mortality rate can only be effectively planned and implemented when the causes and magnitude of this problem are well defined. OBJECTIVE: To determine the mortality pattern among emergency paediatric admissions within the first 24 hours in a health facility in Nigeria. METHODS: The clinical state and progress of post-neonatal patients who presented alive and were admitted into the emergency paediatric room of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital; Ilorin; Nigeria were monitored over a period of six months. The monitoring included records of diagnosis and outcome of management. RESULTS: A total of 606 children were admitted during the period of study out of which 51(8.4) died. Twenty-nine (57) of the deaths occurred within the first 24 hours of admission comprising 15 (51.7) males and 14 (48.3) females giving M:F ratio of about of 1:1. Majority of the deaths were among patients who reported late to the hospital. Loss of consciousness was a strong risk factor for mortality within 24 hours of admission. The highest mortality within the first 24 hours of admission was recorded among patients with malaria (89.0) followed by protein energy malnutrition. CONCLUSION: Majority of deaths among emergency paediatric admission occur within the first 24 hours of admission and are associated with clinical conditions such as malaria and protein-energy malnutrition for which sustained intervention strategies must be developed