Emergency laparotomy in Yangon General Hospital

ABSTRACT

<The> information recorded in the Operating Theatre Register kept at the Accident and Emergency Service (AES) of the Yangon General Hospital in 1985 and 1986 were collected to determine the magnitude, distributions and durations of operation of laparotomy conditions. Annually, about 1394 cases of major surgery were performed at the AES. Of these, laparotomy constituted about 91.3 per cent , and appendicitis topped the list. By sex, male preponderance was observed in all diseases or conditions. By age, 20 to 29 years formed the commonest age group. The day-to-day performance of laparotomy cases was randomly and independently distributed (poisson distribution) while thoses cases performed per week, month or similar days of the week in a year were constant (uniform distribution). Least numbers of cases were admitted between midnight and 800 am and operated on between 400 am to 12 noon. Within 4 hours of arrival, 50 per cent of cases of common diseases had their operations started. The overall duration of operation per case lasted about 1 hour. It is recommended to study on patients and management in a wider contex of the AES to improve the emgrgency services.