Tahseen H Kazmi, Amir Omair, SN Bazmi Inam, Imran Shaikh, Seemin Jamali.
Spectrum of injuries at the Emergency Department of a Tertiary Care Hospital.
J Coll Physicians Surg Pak Nov ;14(1):61.

The objectives were to determine the age and sex specific injuries to ascertain the main types of injuries; to assess proportion of injuries occurring at home or outside and their outcome. This study was conducted in the Accident and Emergency Department of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center (JPMC), Karachi. A total of 302 injury patients, 241 (80%) males and 61 (20%) females were surveyed during the study period. Most of the victims, 198 (66%) were in the 15 - 49 years age group, while only 38 (12%) were > 50 years. The commonest form of injury was fracture of limbs, 107 (35%), followed by soft tissue injury in 69 cases (23%), and head injury in 61 (21%). There was no significant difference in the spectrum of injuries among males and females. Most injuries in males (82%) occurred outside house, while majority of females (54%) got injured inside the house (p= 0.001). The most common mode of injuries in females was fall, 49%, as compared to 26% in males (p<0.001). The highest number of persons injured in 120 road traffic accidents were either pedestrians, 32%, or riders of motorcycle, 36%. Heavy vehicles like trucks, tankers, trawlers were responsible for most cases of accidents, (38%), followed by buses, coaches and wagons involved in 23% of accidents. Majority of injured patients were sent home after treatment, 210 (69%), while 41 (14%) persons were shifted to ward or another hospital. The overall mortality was 14 (5%). this may be an underestimation because the final outcome of 78 (26%) injured patients was not known. In order to devise effective strategies for injury prevention, alternate mode of transportation such as subways and trains should be introduced. Use of helmets for motorcyclists, seat belts and air bags should be mandatory. Organizing public awareness campaigns and provision of safe pedestrian crossings as well as provision of high quality emergency medical services can save many precious lives.

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