Common paediatrics emergencies at the university college hospital

Abstract

In the developing world, emergency situations are common in paediatric wards due to the fact that:The guardians and parents bring minor illness of children to the hospital very late, Children often cannot complain financial constraints and ignorance on the part of the parents make them seek alternative help first, diseases progress very rapidly in children, children are very curious and active and are therefore prone to accidents and poisoning. In our environment, top on the list of common emergencies are infectious and preventable diseases. This paper highlights the commonest diagnoses made at the Otunba Tunwase Children's Emergency Ward (OTCHEW) in U.C.H., Ibadan; their presentation, commonest causes and management undertaken in these cases. In U.C.H., Bamgboye and Familusi reported on the commonest diagnoses at the Children Emergency Room (CHER) in 1978, 1981-1986. In order to detect any change in the trends of prevalent diseases in OTCHEW, we carried out a review of admissions into the ward over a I year period (April 1999-March 2000).