Abstract:
Background
The traumatic pelvic injury is among the injuries that involve strong forces and may be associated with serious debilitating complication like dislocation, fractures, severe haemorrhage and neurologic deformities.
Pelvic radiograph is cheap imaging method that helps to a quick identification of patterns and types of pelvic trauma for appropriate further immediate management planning in emergency setting. The study aim was to determine the Socio demographic and etiological patterns of traumatic pelvic injuries at Muhimbili Orthopedic Institute which is the main specialized trauma centre.
Objective
To determine the socio demographic and etiological patterns of traumatic pelvic injuries at Muhimbili Orthopedic Institute Dar es Salaam from September 2016– February 2017.
Methodology
This was a prospective cross sectional hospital based study where by One hundred and thirteen (113) patients with traumatic pelvic injury referred to Muhimbili Orthopedics Institute radiology department from September 2016 to February 2017 were studied. All patients underwent pelvic radiograph evaluation, the pattern of bone injuries were documented and recorded. The structured questionnaires with close ended questions were used to collect the information.
Statistical analysis was performed using computer program Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16 and P-value of <0.05 considered statistically significant.
Results
The age ranged from 2 to 80years with an overall mean age of 35.31 years. Male to female ratio was 3.5:1. The most affected age group involved was 15- 30years (38.9%) and more patients were referrals from Dar es Salaam region accounting for 73%.
About 35(26.7%) had pelvic ring fracture, 19(14.5%) presented with acetabular fractures and 10(7.6%) had hip joint dislocation.
The main causes of pelvic trauma were Motor car 32.7% and motor cycle 39.8% respectively. Others were fall from height 15.9% and 11.5% for other causes.
Conclusion
Acetabular fracture was more frequent type of pelvic trauma. Motor cycle against pedestrian’s injuries was the commonest mechanism of injury for pelvic trauma. Most young adult male group was involved in pelvic trauma.
Recommendation
In emergency department setting all pelvic trauma patients should do plain X- ray as the first line of diagnostic imaging which is cheap and yet can give important clinical information instead of instant planning for more advanced and expensive imaging methods.
There is need to do more similar studies elsewhere in the country as this study was limited to Dar es Salaam; data for the country in general is lacking.
