Epidemiology and Outcome of Limb Fractures in Nigeria: A Hospital Based Study

Abstract

Background: The Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu is a tertiary hospital that caters for accident victims with various injuries including limb fracture. The hospital is located close to the Lagos-Ibadan and the Sagamu-Ore-Benin expressways.
Objectives: To study the epidemiology and outcome of patients presenting to the hospital with limb fractures.
Methods: This is a prospective study of all consecutive patients that presented with fractures of either the upper or the lower limbs at the accident and emergency department of the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu, Ogun state between the 1st of January 2009 and 31st December 2009. At presentation, the patients' bio-data, the circumstances surrounding the incident, and the results of their clinical and radiological examinations were recorded. They were then followed up till discharge from the hospital.
Results: A total of two hundred and three (203) patients were studied. The age range was between 2 and 87 years with a mean of 34.8±17.4. The male : female ratio was 2:1. The commonest aetiological factor was motor vehicular accidents. The most frequently affected bones were the tibia/fibula followed by the femur.
Conclusion: Motor vehicular accident due to burst tyres was the commonest cause of limb fractures with majority of them occurring along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. The most frequently affected bones were the tibia/fibula followed by the femur.

Keywords: Epidemiology, outcome, limb fractures.