Road traffic accidents in Bahrain

To determine [a] the incidence of Road Traffic Accident [RTA] casualties treated at Salmaniya Medical Complex [SMC] and its distribution characteristics; [b] injury severity and casualty types; and [c] the affect on SMC health system. A total of 23,006 RTA casualties between the ages of 1 to 99 years from 1996 to 2001 were studied at SMC Emergency and Inpatient facilities. The data were collected from database of case records. The incidence of RTA casualties treated at SMC were 73.59% Bahrainis, 26.38% non-Bahrainis. Male Bahraini drivers between the age of 15 and 29 represented 13.90% of RTA casualties treated at SMC. Drivers between the age of 15 to 17 inclusive, accounted for 187 of RTA casualties between 1996 and 2001. The incidence of RTA injuries treated at SMC indicated 42.5% increase in casualties treated from 1996 to 2001. Slight injuries increased 27.2% while ambulance cases increased by 244.6% and inpatient admissions increased by 18.8%. Inpatient deaths decreased by 75%. SMC records indicate that the incidence of death is decreasing while police reports indicate that the incidence of death has increased by 75%. SMC records do not include all police recorded deaths, and police records do not include SMC inpatient deaths unless payment cases. Fractures represented 46.76% of all inpatient injuries, followed by intra-cranial injuries [29.76%]. Total days of care for RTA casualties over six years were 31,595 days with an estimated economic cost of 3,097,869.7 Bahrain Dinars. The evidence strongly supports the need for tougher enforcement of legislation and policy for speed limits, seat belts, driver education programs, and collaborative studies to support road traffic accident prevention and safety

Lattissimus dorsi musculocutaneous flap in management of advanced cancer breast

To determine the effectiveness of the use of lattissimus dorsi muscle in management of advanced cancer breast. Plastic surgery service, Surgical Department, Salmaniya Medical Complex, Bahrain. Review of all cases of advanced cancer of breast necessitating use of flaps for coverage of skin defect after or management of advanced cancer breast. The flaps survived completely in all the 8 patients. Lattissimus dorsi is a very useful flap in management of advanced cancer breast cases

Analysis of cuses of death at the salmaniya medical complex, bahrain, 1995

This study was undertaken to identify the underlying causes of death as recorded in the death certificates over a one year period [1995] at the Salmaniya Medical Complex [SMC], Bahrain. The 741 death certificates reviewed in this study represented 88% of 842 deaths occurred at SMC, and 41% of the total 1786 deaths in Bahrain, as reported in the National Health Data of the Ministry of Health. The underlying causes of death as recorded in the SMC and the National Data showed differences that were statistically significant [P<0.005]. Moreover, there was lack of concordance between the documented cause of death and the underlying disease in 26.9% of cases in the reviewed certificates. This discordance was specifically noticed in the case of deaths assigned to cardiovascular disease and septicemias, where more deaths were assigned to these two categories than was justified from the records. Furthermore, diseases like researchers were able to reinterpret the records and revise the recorded causes of death and the underlying diseases. It was also noticed that death could not be attributed to any specific cause in 3.1% of reviewed certificates. It is concluded that the death certificates should be recorded by experienced clinicians and should represent the correspondence between the actual cause of death and the underlying disease, thus maintaining the relationship between morbidity and mortality statistics