Epidemiology of Patients with Head Injury at a Tertiary Hospital in Rwanda.

INTRODUCTION: Traumatic injuries disproportionately affect populations in low and middle-income countries (LMIC) where head injuries predominate. The Rwandan Ministry of Health (MOH) has dramatically improved access to emergency services by rebuilding its health infrastructure. The MOH has strengthened the nation's acute emergency response by renovating emergency departments (ED), developing the field of emergency medicine as a specialty, and establishing a prehospital care service: Service d'Aide Medicale Urgente (SAMU). Despite the prevalence of traumatic injury in LMIC and the evolving emergency service in Rwanda, data regarding head trauma epidemiology is lacking. METHODS: We conducted this retrospective cohort study at the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali (UTH-K) and used a linked prehospital database to investigate the demographics, mechanism, and degree of acute medical interventions amongst prehospital patients with head injury. RESULTS: Of the 2,426 patients transported by SAMU during the study period, 1,669 were found to have traumatic injuries. Data from 945 prehospital patients were accrued, with 534 (56.5%) of these patients diagnosed with a head injury. The median age was 30 years, with most patients being male (80.3%). Motor vehicle collisions accounted for almost 78% of all head injuries. One in six head injuries were due to a pedestrian struck by a vehicle. Emergency department interventions included intubations (6.7%), intravenous fluids (2.4%), and oxygen administration (4.9%). Alcohol use was not evaluated or could not be confirmed in 81.3% of head injury cases. The median length of stay (LOS) in the ED was two days (interquartile range: 1,3). A total of 184 patients were admitted, with 13% requiring craniotomies; their median in-hospital care duration was 13 days. CONCLUSION: In this cohort of Rwandan trauma patients, head injury was most prevalent amongst males and pedestrians. Alcohol use was not evaluated in the majority of patients. These traumatic patterns were predominantly due to road traffic injury, suggesting that interventions addressing the prevention of this mechanism, and treatment of head injury, may be beneficial in the Rwandan setting.

Development of a trauma and emergency database in Kigali, Rwanda.

INTRODUCTION: Injuries account for 10% of the global burden of disease, resulting in approximately 5.8 million deaths annually. Trauma registries are an important tool in the development of a trauma system; however, limited resources in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) make the development of high-quality trauma registries challenging. We describe the development of a LMIC trauma registry based on a robust retrospective chart review, which included data derived from prehospital, emergency centre and inpatient records. METHODS: This paper outlines our methods for identifying and locating patients and their medical records using pragmatic and locally appropriate record linkage techniques. A prehospital database was queried to identify patients transported to University Teaching Hospital - Kigali, Rwanda from December 2012 through February 2015. Demographic information was recorded and used to create a five-factor identification index, which was then used to search OpenClinic GA, an online open source hospital information system. The medical record number and archive number obtained from OpenClinic GA were then used to locate the physical medical record for data extraction. RESULTS: A total of 1668 trauma patients were transported during the study period. 66.7% were successfully linked to their medical record numbers and archive codes. 94% of these patients were successfully linked to their medical record numbers and archive codes were linked by four or five of the five pre-set identifiers. 945 charts were successfully located and extracted for inclusion in the trauma registry. Record linkage and chart extraction took approximately 1256 h. CONCLUSION: The process of record linkage and chart extraction was a resource-intensive process; however, our unique methodology resulted in a high linkage rate. This study suggests that it is feasible to create a retrospective trauma registry in LMICs using pragmatic and locally appropriate record linkage techniques.

INTRODUCTION: Les blessures sont responsables de 10% de la charge mondiale de morbidité, résultant sur environ 5,8 millions de décès par an. Les registres des traumatismes constituent un outil important pour le développement d'un système sur les traumatismes; cependant, les ressources limitées qui caractérisent les pays à revenu faible et intermédiaire font que le développement de registres des traumatismes de qualité est difficile. Nous décrivons le développement d'un registre des traumatismes dans les pays à revenu faible et intermédiaire à partir d'un examen rétrospectif approfondi des dossiers incluant des données tirées des registres pré-hospitaliers, des services d'urgence et des patients hospitalisés. MÉTHODES: Cet article décrit les méthodes dont nous disposons pour identifier et localiser les patients et leurs dossiers médicaux en utilisant des techniques de couplage de dossiers pragmatiques et localement appropriées. Une base de données pré-hospitalières a été interrogée afin d'identifier les patients transportés à l'Hôpital universitaire de Kigali, au Rwanda, de décembre 2012 à février 2015. Les informations démographiques ont été enregistrées et utilisées afin de créer un indice d'identification à cinq facteurs, utilisé ensuite pour mener une recherche dans OpenClinic GA, un système d'information hospitalière en open source accessible en ligne. Les numéros de dossiers médicaux et les codes d'archives obtenu par OpenClinic GA ont été ensuite utilisés pour localiser le dossier médical physique afin d'en extraire les données. RÉSULTATS: Au total, 1668 patients ayant souffert de traumatisme ont été transportés au cours de la période à l'étude. 66,7% ont pu être couplés à leur numéro de dossier médical et code d'archive. 94% de ces patients ont pu être couplés à 4 ou 5 des cinq identifiants préétablis. 945 fichiers ont pu être localisés et extraits pour être intégrés au registre des traumatismes. Le couplage des dossiers et l'extraction des fiches ont nécessité environ 1 256 heures. CONCLUSION: Le processus de couplage de dossiers et d'extraction des fiches a nécessité des ressources considérables; cependant, notre méthodologie unique a résulté sur un taux de couplage élevé. Cette étude suggère qu'il est possible de créer un registre des traumatismes rétrospectif dans les pays à revenu faible et intermédiaire en utilisant des techniques de couplage de dossiers localement appropriées.