TY - JOUR AU - Mabula, Joseph B. AU - Gilyoma, Japhet M. AU - Mchembe, Mabula D. AU - Jaka, Hyasinta AU - Kamugisha, Erasmus AU - Kidenya, Benson AU - Rambau, Peter F. AU - Chalya, Phillipo L. PY - 2014/01/12 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - Predictors of outcome among patients with obstructive jaundice at Bugando Medical Centre in north-western Tanzania JF - Tanzania Journal of Health Research JA - Tanzania J Hlth Res VL - 15 IS - 4 SE - Articles DO - 10.4314/thrb.v15i4.2 UR - https://www.ajol.info/index.php/thrb/article/view/77036 SP - AB - <p>Despite recent advances both in preoperative diagnosis and postoperative care, obstructive jaundice still contributes significantly to high morbidity and mortality. A prospective study was undertaken to identify predictors of outcome among patients with obstructive jaundice at Bugando Medical Centre in north-western Tanzania. A total of 138 patients were studied. The male to female ratio was 1:1.6. The median age of patients was 58 years. Patients with malignant obstructive jaundice were older than those of benign type (P &lt; 0.001). Ca head of pancreas (65.1%) was the commonest malignant cause of jaundice where as choledocholithiasis (51.9%) was the commonest benign cause. Twelve (9.7%) patients were HIV positive with a median CD 4+ count of 342 cells/ml. A total of 130 (94.2%) patients underwent surgical treatment and the remaining 8 (5.8%) patients were unfit for surgery. The complication rate was 30.4% mainly due to surgical site infections and it was significantly influenced by malignant causes, WBC count &gt; 10 X 109/l and HIV infection with low CD4 (£ 200 cells/ml) (p &lt; 0.0001). The median hospital stay and mortality rate were 18 days and 20.3%, respectively. A low haematocrit and presence of postoperative complications were the main predictors of the hospital stay (P &lt; 0.001), whereas age &gt; 60 years, prolonged duration of jaundice, malignant causes, high bilirubin levels, HIV infection with low CD4+ count (£ 200 cells/ml)  and presence of postoperative complications significantly predicted mortality (P&lt; 0.001). In conclusion, our study highlighted the important factors that predict the outcome of patients presenting with obstructive jaundice at BMC; therefore attention should be focused to these factors so as to improve the outcome of these patients.</p> ER -