Treatment outcomes of multiple injury patients in Intensive Care Unit, Kenyatta National Hospital

Abstract

BACKGROUND; Trauma is a major cause of morbidity and is one of the leading causes of mortality in the world. At The Kenyatta National Hospital, traumatic injury accounts for 8.2% of admissions in the hospital with multiple injuries accounting for 4.7% of the patients. This is the first such study at The Kenyatta National Hospital. OBJECTIVES; To document the clinical outcomes, patterns of injury and complications m patients admitted in Intensive care unit with multiple injuries. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY A descriptive non-randomized cross - sectional study. Consecutive sampling was done and 52 patients with multiple injuries admitted into the intensive care unit of The Kenyatta national hospital were enrolled into the study and followed up for one month. Data was collected using a survey tool by the principal investigator and analyzed using SPSS version 17 and results presented in various formats. A pilot study was carried out before the actual implementation of the study. RESULTS Out of the 52 patients recruited into the study 45(86.5%) were male while 7(13.5%) were female. Majority of the injuries were sustained following RTA 38(73. %) while 19.2% were due to falls. Electrolyte imbalance (32%) and acid base imbalances (26%) were the most commonly observed complications. At 1 month of follow up, 42 patients (80.6%) had died and only 2 (3.8 %) had good recovery while 7 (13.5%) recovered with disability and 1 (1.9%) was vegetative. CONCLUSION There is a high mortality rate in patients admitted with multiple injuries in the lCU of Kenyatta National Hospital and much needs to be done to remedy this situation.