Profile and Outcome of Medical Emergencies in a Teaching Hospital in the Commercial City of Aba, Southeast Nigeria

Abstract

Medical conditions present at the Accident and Emergency (A&E) or Emergency Department (ED) very often. Outcome of medical emergencies depends, among other factors, on the age of patients, gender, socioeconomic factors, medical conditions, their severity, time of patients' presentations, quality of care/treatment given and the available resources (manpower and facilities) in the A&E. There is a paucity of published literature on medical emergencies outcome in Aba, Southeast Nigeria. This study, therefore, set out to bridge this gap in knowledge. This was a 1-year observational study in which patients presenting to the A&E/ED of ABSUTH, Aba for treatment of a medical condition were consecutively recruited and followed up until discharged home, admitted to the medical wards or died in A&E. This study lasted from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018. Relevant data obtained were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0 software. A total of 589 patients presented at A&E because of medical conditions/emergencies, made up of 269 (45.7%) males and 320 (54.3%) females. The commonest medical emergencies were DM related complications, acute malaria, HIV/AIDS, heart failure and stroke. Study subjects discharged home were 17.5%, 71.1% were admitted into the medical wards and 11.4% died. Medical emergencies, caused predominantly by non-communicable diseases (NCDs), contributed significantly to the A&E cases in the city of Aba, Nigeria and are associated with considerable mortality. It is recommended that efforts should be made to control the modifiable risk factors of NCDs while early detection and treatment of communicable and NCDs should be affected.