Incidence and management of mandibular fractures in a low-resource health facility in Ghana

Many studies have been undertaken in Nigeria on maxillofacial trauma. However, only a few have considered both the skeletal and soft tissue injuries (in general) involving all the aspects of the maxillofacial region or considered other etiological sources of trauma apart from road traffic crashes. Fewer still have reviewed the outcome of management of facial injuries in our low-resource environment. This study sets out to examine the recent trends in both the clinical and epidemiological patterns of all facial injuries from all causes seen in a low-resource practice of a developing country. It also assessed the in-hospital treatment outcomes, and the levels of the patients’ satisfaction with treatment received in this setting. Over a 12-month period, the clinical records of consecutive patients who were evaluated and treated for maxillofacial injuries in our unit were prospectively acquired, entered into predesigned forms and subsequently analyzed. There were 259 patients (79.5% males) during the study period. The mean age was 32.21(± 16.588) years. Overall, motor bike crashes, 42.1%, were the commonest source of these traumas; and armed robbery was the commonest form (69.0%) of assault. Mandibular fractures were the commonest maxillofacial fractures (37.8%) whereas head injury had the highest frequency among the associated injuries (71.4%). Closed reduction and immobilization was deployed in 88.0% of those who had treatment and majority was satisfied with the esthetic outcome of the treatment received. Mean length of hospital stay was 12.6 (± 4.423) days. Maxillofacial trauma poses a significant socioeconomic burden on affected individuals in this study population. This is made worse by the presence of associated injuries in the other body systems. More local studies on the outcome of management of maxillofacial trauma will improve the available literature in this region.

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Health facility service availability and readiness to provide basic emergency obstetric and newborn care in a low-resource setting: evidence from a Tanzania National Survey

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2017-020608 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. e020608 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Deogratius Bintabara ◽

Alex Ernest ◽

Bonaventura Mpondo

Keyword(s):

Quality Assurance ◽

Health Facility ◽

Newborn Care ◽

Service Availability ◽

Signal Functions ◽

Low Resource ◽

Care Services ◽

Resource Setting ◽

Low Resource Setting ◽

Maternal And Newborn

ObjectiveThis study used a nationally representative sample from Tanzania as an example of low-resource setting with a high burden of maternal and newborn deaths, to assess the availability and readiness of health facilities to provide basic emergency obstetric and newborn care (BEmONC) and its associated factors.DesignHealth facility-based cross-sectional survey.SettingWe analysed data for obstetric and newborn care services obtained from the 2014–2015 Tanzania Service Provision Assessment survey, using WHO-Service Availability and Readiness Assessment tool.Primary and secondary outcome measuresAvailability of seven signal functions was measured based on the provision of ‘parental administration of antibiotic’, ‘parental administration of oxytocic’, ‘parental administration of anticonvulsants’, ‘assisted vaginal delivery’, ‘manual removal of placenta’, ‘manual removal of retained products of conception’ and ‘neonatal resuscitation’. Readiness was a composite variable measured based on the availability of supportive items categorised into three domains: staff training, diagnostic equipment and basic medicines.ResultsOut of 1188 facilities, 905 (76.2%) were reported to provide obstetric and newborn care services and therefore were included in the analysis of the current study. Overall availability of seven signal functions and average readiness score were consistently higher among hospitals than health centres and dispensaries (p<0.001). Furthermore, the type of facility, performing quality assurance, regular reviewing of maternal and newborn deaths, reviewing clients’ opinion and number of delivery beds per facility were significantly associated with readiness to provide BEmONC.ConclusionThe study findings show disparities in the availability and readiness to provide BEmONC among health facilities in Tanzania. The Tanzanian Ministry of Health should emphasise quality assurance efforts and systematic maternal and newborn death audits. Health leadership should fairly distribute clinical guidelines, essential medicines, equipment and refresher trainings to improve availability and quality BEmONC.

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