Post-injury malaria: A risk factor for wound infection and protracted recovery

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of post-injury falciparum malaria on morbidity parameters in Cambodia. METHOD: Retrospective study of 227 trauma patients managed at a surgical centre in Battambang, Cambodia. RESULTS: Within 10 days of the injury, 42.7% of the study population developed symptomatic malaria. In patients with post-injury malaria, the rate of wound infection was 36.1% compared with 10.0% in patients without symptomatic malaria (95% confidence interval for difference 15.2-36.9%). The average hospital stay in the post-injury malaria group was 31.2 days compared with 19.4 days in the patients without the complication (95% confidence interval for difference 7.2-16.4 days). CONCLUSION: Symptomatic malaria after trauma is common in Cambodia. Post-injury malaria seems to increase the risk of wound infection, delays postoperative recovery, and thus adds to the burden of trauma.