Article Sidebar
Published:
Jul 20, 2018Article Details
Copyright remains in the Author’s name. The work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - Noncommercial Works License. Authors are required to complete and sign an Author Agreement form that outlines Author and Publisher rights and terms of publication. The Agreement form should be uploaded along with other submissions files and any submission will be considered incomplete without it [forthcoming].
Material submitted for publication in the SAMJ is accepted provided it has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere. Please inform the editorial team if the main findings of your paper have been presented at a conference and published in abstract form, to avoid copyright infringement. The SAMJ does not hold itself responsible for statements made by the authors.
Previously published images
If an image/figure has been previously published, permission to reproduce or alter it must be obtained by the authors from the original publisher and the figure legend must give full credit to the original source. This credit should be accompanied by a letter indicating that permission to reproduce the image has been granted to the author/s. This letter should be uploaded as a supplementary file during submission.
Main Article Content
The early diagnosis of acute abdominal emergencies in infancy and early childhood
Abstract
It is not generally appreciated that acute abdominal emergencies are common in infancy and early childhood. Although chemotherapy and antibiotics, improved techniques in pre- and post-operative care, and better anaesthesia have been reponsible for a steady and reassuring decline in the annual mortality rate from these emergencies, there is still much room for improvement. The reduction in mortality has not equalled that found in adults, and disconcerting facts are the alarming death rate from neonatal obstructions still prevalent in many centres, the frequency of irreducible intussusception, and the persistently high fatality-rate from acute appendicitis in children under the age of 5 years.
It is the purpose of this paper to ascertain the causes of the higher mortality figures in small children, and to consider the distinctive clinical features of the commoner conditions which present as acute abdominal emergencies in childhood. The data, which are based mainly on personal experience, are correlated with the views expressed in current literature and illustrated by an analysis of 314 abdominal emergencies treated in our Children's Surgical Department during the 2-year period January 1953 to December 1954.
